Russia invites US states to secede and join country

Comments came after another lawmaker called for Alaska to be returned

A senior Russian lawmaker has seemingly invited American states to secede and instead join the Russian Federation, amid polling showing support amongst Americans for their states to break away.

Alexander Tomalchev, a senior member of Russia’s parliament (the Duma) told Russian news website Podmoskovye Segodnya that any US state wanting to secede from the US would be welcome to apply to join his country, Newsweek reported on Monday.

He cited polls showing Americans wanting their states to break away from the US, before calling for any such US state wanting to join Russia to hold elections on the matter.

“It is important that voting takes place not on social networks, but officially and legitimately,” Mr Tomalchev said in apparent reference to online polling in the US and elections in regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia this month.

Mr Tomalchev reportedly added that Moscow would consider any US state wanting to join the Russian Federation should any such election be held, and that United States was beginning “to decay”.

He also added that another ally of Ukraine, the European Union, was “bursting at its seams.”

Both the US and European Union, as well as NATO members such as Canada and the UK, have provided billions in dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine in addition to military equipment.

Tough economic and political sanctions have also been imposed on Moscow.

Russia’s claims over occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been widely condemned by the international community and described as shambolic by those outside the country, including in the US.

“The United States, I want to be very clear about this, will never, never, never recognise Russia’s claims on Ukraine sovereign territory,” US President Joe Biden said following this month’s staged elections in the four regions, while announcing new sanctions.

While it was unclear which online polling Mr Tomalchev had referred to members of the New Hampshire legislature voted to stay within the US earlier this year, with more than 300 lawmakers rejecting the idea of leaving the union, as ABC News reported at the time. Only 13 lawmakers voted for the proposal.

The remarks by Mr Tomalchev come after another Russian lawmaker, Duma member Oleg Matveychev, said Moscow “should be thinking about reparations” from the United States in the form of Alaska.

Alaska was formerly a part of Russia but joined the US following an agreement known as the Alaska Purchase in 1867.