She can see it from her house, but she chose to ignore it.

[tuvor]

In an interview last week with CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Palin suggested that her contact was more than just awareness of Russia's nearness. When Couric asked Palin if she'd "ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians," the governor replied, "We have trade missions back and forth."

But Steve Smirnoff, the Russian Federation's honorary consul in Anchorage, said Palin never accepted his invitation to open a dialogue with Alaska's neighbor.

When Palin took office in December 2006, Smirnoff says, he sent her a letter suggesting "she could be instrumental in reviving relationships between Alaska and Russia, and the rest of the world."

Smirnoff said he'd met Palin years before, when they both worked on then-Gov. Frank Murkowski's campaign. Smirnoff had hoped for some rapport, but "I never received a response," he said. "I don't know if it was taken to heart or thrown in the trash basket."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081001/ap_on_el_pr/palin_foreign_policy