MOSCOW (Realist English). In recent days, Alaska has become the center of global attention. Many different historical facts connected with it have been described.
One particular episode, however, may be especially interesting in light of the recent summit between President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the United States Donald Trump. For the first time, Alaska became the venue for a meeting of the leaders of Russia and the United States, although such a possibility had arisen much earlier.
On 5 May 1943, President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin with a request to hold a meeting in Alaska.
In his message, Roosevelt proposed that they discuss the military situation both on land and at sea, noting that the Soviet Union was doing “a great job.”
Considering that this letter was sent to the head of the Soviet state after the Battle of Stalingrad and the strategic turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War, the leadership of the Western allies of the Soviet Union understood the necessity of intensifying personal contacts with Stalin.
Roosevelt also emphasized the importance of holding a one-on-one meeting, without the participation of Great Britain. He had reasons for this. The American President, who contributed to the victory over fascism, believed that the Soviet Union played a more decisive role than England.
He had earlier declared: “The Russian armies have destroyed – and are destroying – more manpower, airplanes, tanks, and guns of our common enemy than all the other United Nations put together.”
For a number of reasons, the meeting in Alaska did not take place in 1943, and another location was eventually chosen. Yet the fact remains: there were periods in our history when mutual respect, despite ideological contradictions, was far greater than in later times.
In the same letter to Stalin, Roosevelt wrote:
“…You and I would have talked in a very informal manner, and there would have been between us what we call a ‘meeting of minds.’ I do not think there would have been any need for formal agreements or declarations…”
Roosevelt’s idea of meeting the head of the Soviet state in Alaska was realized 82 years later, when Putin and Trump met there.
Such are the historical parallels.
Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation
