Potential Mystery Shopper
I have already written above that Russia, in search of a buyer, held negotiations with one "mysterious" potential buyer. It became known only at the end of last year, and it would not be easy for you to guess which country we are talking about. Maybe France? Or Spain? Or China? Or maybe Japan? No, in fact, we are talking about one of the smallest countries in the world, the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein, which is located between Austria and Switzerland and has never attracted much attention.
Why Liechtenstein? This story opened in November 2018, when an intriguing documentary called "SRF bi de Lüt" was shown on Swiss national television. It says that the Russian Emperor Alexander II, before offering Alaska to Great Britain and the United States, approached Liechtenstein with an offer to buy this vast territory. Only after the ruling family of the principality, after careful consideration, nevertheless rejected the offer, Russia turned to the British and Americans...
There was talk of it in Liechtenstein, but many thought it was a rumor. However, after the screening of the documentary, a statement was made by Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein. In an official letter, he publicly confirmed for the first time that Russia had indeed offered Liechtenstein to buy Alaska, and subsequently this topic was discussed more than once within his family.
If the Principality had agreed to the deal (it is not known how much was involved, and Prince Hans-Adam II hopes to find historical documents on the subject), then Liechtenstein, one of the first countries from the bottom in terms of total area, would today be the 16th largest country in the world, larger than, for example, Iran!