US Politics
Putin gives Alaskan man new motorcycle during Trump summit
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An Anchorage man has reportedly received a new motorcycle as a personal gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The gesture occurred during last week’s summit between Putin and President Donald Trump in the Alaskan city, according to a report by Russian state television.
Mark Warren was handed the keys to his new Ural motorcycle by Andrei Ledenev, an employee of the Russian embassy, in the car park of the Anchorage hotel where the Russian delegation was staying.
Ledenev told Warren: “I have to say that this is a personal gift from the President of the Russian Federation.”
Warren, who has white hair and spectacles, was seen immediately taking his new motorbike for a spin, according to the Russian channel.
He was unable to be reached for comment.
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“It’s night and day,” Warren told Russian state media.
“I like my old one, but this one is obviously much better.
“I’m speechless, it’s amazing. Thank you very much.”
The unexpected gift by the Russian leader came after reporters with Russian state television Channel 1 met Warren by chance on the streets of Anchorage ahead of the summit.
The reporters stopped to admire Warren’s bike, which is manufactured by Ural, whose original factory was founded in 1941 in what was then Soviet Russia.
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Warren told a reporter, Valentin Bogdanov, that he struggled to obtain spare parts for the bike, including a new starter, because the manufacturing plant is “located in Ukraine.”
“So for you, if they resolve this conflict here in Alaska, I mean Putin and Trump, it will be good?” Bogdanov asked Warren.
“Yes, it will be good,” the Alaskan replied.
Ural, which is headquartered in Washington State, said that all of its motorcycles are assembled in Kazakhstan. The company pulled all its production out of Russia after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Ural did not immediately reply to a request for comment outside working hours in the U.S.