David Ramseur

The prisoner swap is cause for celebration and praise for the potential of diplomacy. But amid the rejoicing, we must admit Putin is once again the big winner.

Putin hopes his March 15-17 re-election bid is a ringing endorsement of his rule and war on Ukraine. We should do everything possible to deny him that.

Vic’s advice I remember best was: “Regardless of how bad it gets, keep talking.” I can think of no better way to honor his legacy than to heed that.

One visionary proposal could have put Alaska’s public education funding on solid footing today.

The recent incident harkens back three decades to another Russians-gone-awry incident in the Bering Strait.

Americans - and especially Alaskans - should raise a glass of ice-cold vodka to the visionary who ended the Cold War.

His task is increasing tougher as Putin’s paranoia grows with his failing invasion of Ukraine.

Cooperative efforts such as sister-city relations should remain at least dormant and available for resuscitation after Putin is gone.

After years of lip service from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, it’s Biden getting it done.

Could there be a more striking contrast between the leadership shown by the current occupant of the White House and those in the Juneau governor’s mansion and Anchorage City Hall?

Khabarovsk’s unlikely role of facing down the Kremlin may surprise the Alaskans who ventured there under the “glasnost” openness of the 1980s.

Regardless of the squabbling between our national governments, the model of citizen diplomacy pursued by Alaskans and Russians a generation ago can again pay dividends in advancing mutual understanding and reducing tensions today.

As American-Russian relations today deteriorate to their most precarious in decades, leaders of both countries should learn from the example set by Alaskan and Russian “citizen diplomats” three decades ago.

The collateral damage from the early March poisoning of a Russian spy in London who turned against his country soon will be felt in Alaska.

In 1962, Capt. Charles Maultsby piloted a U-2 spy plane from Eielson Air Force Base to the North Pole and mistakenly drifted into Soviet air space at the height of the Cuban missile crisis.