Oleg Matveychev, a member of the Russian Parliament, called for the United States to return Alaska and a settlement in California on Russian state television. The lawmaker outlined a series of demands for the United States and Ukraine “after Ukraine’s demilitarization is completed.” This included additional reparations to cover the economic damage to Russia brought by the West’s economic sanctions.

“We should be thinking about reparations from the damage that was caused by the sanctions and the war itself because that too costs money, and we should get it back,” said Matveychev.

He also demanded the “return of all Russian properties, those of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and current Russia, which has been seized in the United States, and so on.”  

When he was asked if he was pertaining to the historic settlements in Alaska and Fort Ross in California, he replied, “That was my next point. As well as the Antarctic,” the lawmaker said. “We discovered it, so it belongs to us,” Matveychev added.

Upon the news breaking out of this plan by Matveychev, many social media users found the proposal hilarious. It even caught Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy’s attention, to which he replied, “Good luck with that!”