A landmark from early Alaska history is at the center of fraught U.S.-Russia relations

Some interesting, high-level meetings between Russian and American diplomats and scholars have been held recently under the auspices of an organization few people know, the Fort Ross Conservancy. Called the Fort Ross Dialogue, most have been in California, but one recently met in Russia. Discussions at the meetings have addressed business and cultural issues, and also archival and museum collections on the history of Russian-American relations, all in a context of mutual understanding and cooperation.

The meetings have attracted high-profile people from both Russia and the U.S. Gov. Pat Brown has spoken at several, along with U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft, Russian Federation Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak, Matt Rojansky of the Kennan Institute, Oleg Zhiganov of the Russian Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., and others of similar stature. Letters from Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton were read at the initial meeting held in San Francisco in 2012.

Sponsors of the meetings include Chevron, and the Russian monopoly Transneft, the largest oil pipeline company in the world. Attendees at the initial meeting, which included the CEOs of Citigroup, Pepsi and Cisco Systems, paid $25,000 a person to be present, a gala event.

However did little Fort Ross, a mostly obscure California state historical site, attract such attention? The fort was an isolated Russian coastal settlement established in north California Indian country by the Russian American Company in 1812. Its main purpose was to supply Sitka (New Archangel) and Kodiak with agricultural goods, especially grain and meat from livestock.

Perhaps 100 people lived there at the height of the settlement's existence, which was not long; the Russians sold the post in 1841. That was because Ross never produced what was expected of it, and in 1839 former Russian America Gov. von Wrangel secured arrangements for annual grain shipments to the Russian colony from Hudson's Bay Company lands farther north, on the Columbia River.

Sunk in debilitation and obscurity, the California Historical Landmarks Commission purchased the fort in 1903, and over time, the state has rebuilt many of the original buildings and maintained the site as a historical monument.

But in 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the closing of 70 state parks, including Ross, which was already struggling financially. News of the pending closure reached the Kremlin, where Premier Putin realized Russia could capitalize on the situation, and took action. He dispatched his U.S. ambassador to California to see what could be done. The task of saving Ross fell to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire Russian oligarch who heads a conglomerate called Renova Group. Vekselberg established the Renova Fort Ross Foundation, which poured money into Ross' restoration and operations. The foundation also began to sponsor various events that would present Russia in a favorable light for Americans, and in 2012, the first of the Fort Ross Dialogues. Vekselberg chaired the initial meeting.

It's hard to fault Russia or Vekselberg for acting to save Fort Ross, a pivotal element in reconstructing the history of the Russian experience in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The administrators at Ross express deep gratitude for the preservation of the site. Rescue is not something to be refused. Additionally, motivation is always mixed, and the high-level Russian-American dialogue is surely in the best interests of both countries. Moreover, Russia surely has every right to advertise its role as an angel for Ross.

But Viktor Vekselberg is not the most savory character. Last May, CNBC revealed that one of his companies, Columbus Nova, paid President Trump's attorney Michael Cohen $500,000 to gain access for Vekselberg and his cronies to Trump. Cohen is under federal investigation, and Vekselberg's assets in the U.S., rumored to be in the billions, have been frozen. He has come under scrutiny from Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Poor Fort Ross. The administrators there are doubtless innocent of any involvement in Vekselberg's or Cohen's affairs. They were entirely appropriate in welcoming help, wherever from. But unfortunately, they now have some rather disreputable friends. And quite revealing, given the historic relationship between Ross and Alaska, no Alaskans seem yet to have been invited to the Dialogue.

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