Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, appeared to take a swipe at Donald Trump with his choice of dress as he touched down in Alaska on Friday.
Reporters filmed the Russian foreign minister wearing a sweater emblazoned with the inscription “CCCP,” the Cyrillic abbreviation for USSR, as he arrived at a hotel in Alaska, where Putin is set to hold talks with Trump to hash out how to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
The Daily Beast has contacted Russia’s Foreign Ministry and the White House for comment.
Alaska was part of the Russian Empire until 1867, when the United States purchased it for $7.2 million under President Andrew Johnson. It gained the status of a state on Jan. 3, 1959. At their closest point, Alaska and Russia are positioned about 53 miles apart.
Kremlin propagandists have floated seizing Alaska throughout the Ukraine war. Lavrov’s wardrobe choice appeared to nod to those fantasies.
In the footage published by Russian publication Izvestia, Lavrov is seen getting out of a car wearing a white sweater and vest, under which three Cyrillic letters are visible. The publication reported that they presumably form the word “USSR.”
The publication’s correspondent asked Lavrov whether he had been to Alaska before and whether he liked it there. The diplomat said he’d been there before but didn’t answer the second question.
In July 2024, during a broadcast of the Russia-1 talk show 60 Minutes, pro-Kremlin host Olga Skabeyeva referred to Alaska as “our Alaska,” repeating a talking point pushed by Russian propagandists throughout the war in Ukraine that Moscow could attempt to seize the U.S. state.
And in January 2024, the U.S. State Department addressed speculation after the Kremlin issued a decree that some claimed signaled preparations to reclaim Alaska.
State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement at the time: “I speak for all of us in the U.S. government to say that, certainly, he is not getting it back.”
Putin and Trump are holding high-stakes talks at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska, which will mark their first in-person meeting since 2019.
Trump, who once vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours, has warned there will be “very severe consequences” unless Putin agrees to bring an end to the conflict. Putin is “not going to mess around with me,” he claimed Thursday.
