ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Alaska's had a long relationship with Russia. Alaska was once a Russian colony. It served as a defensive bulwark during the Cold War, and it saw a period of warmer relations after the Soviet Union fell, which has since cooled again. They're separated by just 55 miles at the narrowest point across the Bering Strait, and that's not including islands. So how are today's Alaskans feeling ahead of the Russia-U.S. meeting in their state? Alaska Public Media's Liz Ruskin went asking.
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LIZ RUSKIN, BYLINE: A few blocks of downtown Anchorage are alive with tourists this time of year and the occasional busker. The street food of choice? Hot dogs, Alaska style.
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RUSKIN: What is the big seller here?
MIKE BIALY: Spicy reindeer and regular reindeer - that's what we're known for around the world.
RUSKIN: Vendor Mike Bialy has some trepidation about the big meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, just two miles from the hot dog stand he operates.
BIALY: I hope everything goes smoothly 'cause I know they're going to be talking about some big deals.
RUSKIN: While Russia's war on Ukraine is the main topic, many Alaskans wonder whether Putin will express Russia's age-old sellers regret while he's here. Czar Alexander II sold Alaska to the U.S. in 1867 for pennies an acre. That Alaska should belong to Moscow is a theme among Russian patriots today. Some Alaskans are bracing for Putin to raise the issue as a joke or to say that borders can be fluid to try to legitimize his seizure of Ukrainian territory. Still, Lou Baker thinks the meeting could be a boon for Anchorage. He was walking his brown retriever, Ellie (ph), downtown before the summit.
LOU BAKER: Puts us in the spotlight for a little while.
RUSKIN: Yeah.
BAKER: And if something good comes of it, which hopefully there will be, maybe you'll - you know, people will remember that.
RUSKIN: He says Anchorage might become a name associated with a peace deal or treaty. Rick Mystrom was mayor of Anchorage in the 1990s, after the ice curtain of the Cold War melted, allowing Alaskans to get to know their Russian neighbors. Sister city relationships flourished. Mystrom says he still feels the spirit of those times.
RICK MYSTROM: My continued good feelings about the people of Russia doesn't extend to Vladimir Putin.
RUSKIN: Mystrom calls Putin a killer, citing the suspicious deaths of Putin critics and opponents.
MYSTROM: If I were mayor, I think I would have a hard time to give him a warm welcome to Anchorage. I would be polite but probably cold.
RUSKIN: Some in Anchorage plan to protest. Karen Colonell bought a dozen Ukrainian flags for the occasion and hopes Alaskans will show the world they stand against Russian aggression.
KAREN COLONELL: We have some values that we need to uphold, and freedom is one of them.
RUSKIN: Bill Gallanger has his doubts about waving the Ukrainian flag in Putin's face. Gallanger lived through the Cold War. He recalls doing duck-and-cover exercises in school.
BILL GALLANGER: I don't know why you'd want to be antagonistic to a leader of a nuclear country. Seems like the normal thing is to be welcoming of a world leader that's willing to come to America and discuss negotiations of great proportion, keeping us out of World War III.
RUSKIN: Those who do protest will have to do it from afar, since they won't be allowed on the military base. For NPR News, I'm Liz Ruskin in Anchorage.
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