When U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska on Friday, it will be the latest chapter in the 49th state’s long history with Russia — and with international tensions.

President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin is set for a military base in Alaska that was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the height of Cold War and still plays a

T HE TIMING could not have been worse. Days before a crucial summit in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Friday, Russian forces broke through Ukraine’s defensive line. Near the breakout area at Dobropillia, just north of the Ukrainian stronghold of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, soldiers report panic and confusion.