Before Trump and Putin hold a highly-anticipated summit in Alaska to discuss Moscow’s war on Ukraine, experts emphasize the historical significance of this location.

There were handshakes and a red carpet, but not the deal that Trump had sought on the grinding three-year war in Ukraine.

“The symbolism of Alaska would be a reminder of how it was possible for the United States and Russia for most of the 19th century to transcend their ideological and political differences and their expansionisms, to have warm, friendly cooperative relations,” says David S. Foglesong, a history professor at Rutgers University - New Brunswick.