Russia's decision to sell Alaska was influenced by its financial struggles following the Crimean War and the desire to strengthen ties with the United States, a fellow rival of Great Britain. Selling Alaska provided Russia with much-needed cash and ensured that Britain would not gain control of the territory.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held calls on Saturday with his Turkish and Hungarian counterparts, the Russian foreign ministry said, hours after a summit between the U.S. and Russian presidents yielded no deal on ending the war in Ukraine.

Democrat Senator said Alaska summit was ‘great day’ for Russia: Putin was ‘absolved of his crimes in front of the world’ - Putin came to America for a ‘photo opp’ and legitimization, and received both from Trump,

The Trump-Putin summit will take place in a former Russian colony that the United States bought for $7.2 million in 1867. Here’s how the deal came together and why its legacy matters.

In the early hours of Saturday morning following a summit in Alaska between the leaders of Russia and the United States, senior politicians in Moscow were quick to trumpet the meeting as a win for Russia and its narrative of the war in Ukraine.

Yes, really. Russian nationalists are saying that Putin should come home from his Alaska visit with a very imperial present for the Russian people. They either claim the land of Alaska was leased, not sold, or that a Russian diplomat bribed American lawmakers, or that the Russian Tsar didn’t follow the law of the sale, or some other excuse.

As President Trump is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, NBC News’ Gadi Schwartz looks at the historical ties between the state of Alaska and Russia.

Russia says it invaded Ukraine to halt Kyiv's ambitions to join NATO, the U.S.-led defensive alliance, which it saw as a major security threat. It also accuses Kyiv of persecuting ethnic Russians and their culture in Ukraine.

ANCHORAGE—Dozens of Russian Orthodox faithful joined in prayer ahead of Friday’s summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin, hoping for peace between Russia and Ukraine. “Let our leaders yearn for peace when they meet,