My friend, a Latvian lady in a conversation we were having, said that
the treaty or agreement between the US and Russia that sold Alaska was
not really a transfer of ownership. She said that it was like a lease
( think Hong Kong ) and the US, according to this agreement had to
give back Alaska after a certain amount of time. Is my friend correct?

Dear orsonstarbuck-ga,

The answer is no. It was sold without any time restrictions. It has
been an urban myth in the Russia that there is a claim on Alaska
because following the 1917 Russian Revolution the communist government
renounced all previous laws and treaties of the czarist government.

You can read the terms of the treaty here (Congress archives). You
will note there is no reference to leasing the territory or any dates.
 http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=015/llsl015.db&recNum=572

From Wikipedia -
?In modern Russia and even in its predecessor, the Soviet Union, there
has been speculation in the mass media that Alaska was not, in fact,
sold, but was instead leased to the U.S. for 99 or 150 years and has
to be returned to Russia. It may be explained in part by the notion
that soon after the 1917 revolution in Russia all the secret tsarist
international agreements were officially denounced and declared void
by the new government.?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_colonization_of_the_Americas

You can read a general introduction to the Alaska Purchase on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Purchase

The Library of Congress has detailed information on the treaty.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alaska.html

You may be interested in this Pravda news report
http://english.pravda.ru/society/2003/03/14/44416.html


I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

Search strategy
alaska russia sold leased
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=alaska+russia+sold+leased&btnG=Search&meta=

Perfect!!! That conversation with my friend has been nagging at me for
2 years. The answer was more than I hoped for!

Here is a modern Russian site that assumes/admits that the "Convention
of 1867" was final:

http://www.npacific.ru/np/magazin/2_01_e/np2003.htm

There was an earlier agreement between Russia and USA that was limited
to 20 years which may also have been a source of confusion.

Dear orsonstarbuck-ga,
Thank you for your generous tip. Pleased I could help.
answerfinder-ga