U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrive to hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Vladimir Putin is set to become the first Russian president to visit Alaska, a territory Moscow sold to the U.S. in 1867 for $7.2 million, assuming a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead there on Friday as planned.
It would be Putin's eighth trip to the U.S. as president, a post he has held since the end of 1999 apart from a four-year hiatus in 2008-2012 when close ally Dmitry Medvedev held the top Kremlin job.
