Putin jokes Alaska too cold to annex

Russian President Vladimir Putin has quashed the possibility of annexing Alaska, saying that the former Russian colony is cold.

Amid rising Russian nationalism after Moscow' annexation of Crimea, Putin made the comments while responding to an audience member's suggestion of annexing Alaska during the televised national phone-in, asking, 'Faina Ivanovna, my dear, why do you want Alaska?'

According to the Huffington Post, Putin said that Russia is a 'northern country' and 70 percent of its territory lies in 'Northern and extreme Northern regions'.

Putin said that Alaska is cold, adding that Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars, and now was not keen on annexing it.