An Alaskan may have been an unexpected beneficiary of the recent summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, where important issues were discussed.
He left the scene on a modern bike, donated by the Russian government.
Putin's delegation presented Mark Warren, a former Anchorage fire inspector, with a Ural Gear Up motorcycle with a sidecar, a week after his TV interview went viral in Russia.
The motorcycle manufacturer, founded in 1941 in Western Siberia, now produces its products in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan, and sells them through a distribution network in Woodinville, Washington.
Warren had previously owned a Ural model, purchased from a neighbor, and was driving it a few days before the leaders' meeting when he was spotted by a Russian film crew and invited in for a chat.
In an interview, he shared the difficulties of finding spare parts for transport, due to market imbalances.
“The video blew up the Internet, a real stir began, although I am an ordinary person without any special features,” Warren admitted on Tuesday.
“They simply filmed a video of a pensioner in a Ural truck, which for some reason they found interesting.”
On August 13, 48 hours before the summit on the Ukrainian conflict, Warren received a call from a Russian correspondent: “They decided to give you a bike.”
The man claims that the documents he has drawn up confirm the transfer of the gift through the Russian Embassy in the United States.
At first he suspected a scam. However, after Putin and Trump had finished their three-hour talks at Elmendorf-Richardson, he received a call back saying they were ready to pick up the equipment.
The following day he was asked to come to an Anchorage hotel to collect it. His wife accompanied him to the car park where an olive-green motorcycle worth $22,000 (~£16,000) was parked with six men, presumably Russians.
“I was in shock,” he recalls. “My first thought was, 'This is a joke.'”
The only conditions from the Russians were joint photos and a short conversation: “If they expect something more, that’s their problem.”
Two journalists and a consular officer rode the bike while a cameraman rode alongside to record the process.
Warren's only concern is the possible suspicions of his involvement in the hidden plans of the Russian Federation.
“I don't want to face criticism for owning a Russian motorcycle… My family doesn't deserve that kind of attention,” he explained.
While signing the registration documents at the embassy, he noted the date of the vehicle’s release: August 12.
“One thing is clear: it was literally taken off the assembly line and hastily sent on board an airplane, probably within 24 hours,” he concluded.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
