Russian Deputy Prime Minister proposes to regard Alaska residents as Russian citizens

According to Russian media reports, the U.S. State Department recently identified the birthplace of 20,000 Russian residents living on the disputed islands between Russia and Japan (called the South Kuril Islands and Japan calls the four northern islands) as “Japan” in the green card application documents.

In response, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev said that he suggested that Russia would regard Alaska residents as Russian citizens.