Alaska is off the table, US assures amid Putin's quest for former Russian territories

Strange ideas of Putin have gotten even more quirky lately—the U.S. response.

"On behalf of the U.S. government, we assure that he certainly wouldn't get it back," Patel said during a press briefing on Monday.

He responded to a journalist's question about the Russian president's order, which initiated the search and securing of Russian assets abroad, including those in the former USSR and Russian Empire territories.

Some US media outlets, including Newsweek, interpreted the decree as potentially referring to Alaska and negating its sale in 1876.

On Friday, Putin issued a directive to set aside funds for the identification and legal protection of foreign properties that previously belonged to Russia, including those from the Soviet and Tsarist periods.

The Kremlin Office of Economic and Administrative Affairs in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will address these matters.