“Those of us in the governor’s office concocted this crazy idea to do a treaty signing on the International Date Line, standing on the ice between the two Diomedes,” Ramseur said, adding that because a winter storm rolled in, the governor’s office was stuck on the mainland, thwarting their plans. “Some journalists had flown in from Moscow to cover the event, and while they were stuck waiting for us on Little Diomede, two of them pulled an Alaska Guardsman aside and asked for political asylum. They eventually got it, but it sort of blew up all the goodwill of the expedition.”
Ramseur said that this period of neighbourliness only lasted until the early 2000s after Putin came to power and changed Russian policy to discourage interaction with the West. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the sentiment has soured further across the state – the Anchorage Assembly voted to end a sister city relationship with Magadan, Russia, in 2023, and more recently, in Nome, a city that sits just 160 miles east of Russia, locals have been building homemade drone jammers and sewing Kevlar body armor to send to Ukraine’s frontlines. Rallies against Putin are expected in Alaska’s most populous city on Friday.
AlamyAdventurous travellers can immerse themselves in Little Diomede’s unique culture (Credit: Alamy)
And though there’s still a mural on Little Diomede’s school gymnasium showing two hands joined across the watery divide between islands, with the word “friend” written in both English and Russian, the isle’s few residents are known to keep an eye on the movements of Russian troops, ships and helicopters in the area (which have increased, especially as melting sea ice has opened possible Arctic shipping), sharing their gathered intelligence with military officers in Anchorage.
Whether the Anchorage summit delivers tangible change or leaves relations frozen in place, it will be watched closely from both sides of the Bering Strait – where politics, like sea ice, can shift without warning.