Kremlin envoy proposes 'Putin-Trump tunnel' to link Russia and US

Russia and the United States should build a "Putin-Trump" rail tunnel under the Bering Strait to link their countries, unlock joint exploration of natural resources and "symbolise unity", a Kremlin envoy has suggested.

The proposal by Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy and head of Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, envisages a construction project costing $8 billion, funded by Moscow and "international partners", to build a 70-mile (112-km) rail and cargo link in under eight years.

Dmitriev, who has helped spearhead a Russian charm offensive designed to revive US-Russia ties, floated the idea late on Thursday after Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump by phone and agreed to meet in Budapest to seek a way to stop the war in Ukraine.

Asked about the idea on Friday by a reporter during a meeting in Washington with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump called the idea "interesting" and asked Zelensky what he made of it. "I'm not happy with this idea," the Ukrainian leader said, prompting laughter from the US side.

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"The dream of a US-Russia link via the Bering Strait reflects an enduring vision – from the 1904 Siberia-Alaska railway to Russia’s 2007 plan. RDIF has studied existing proposals, including the US-Canada-Russia-China railroad, and will support the most viable," Dmitriev wrote on X.

The Bering Strait, 51 miles (82 km) wide at its narrowest point, separates Russia's vast and sparsely populated Chukotka region from Alaska. Ideas to link them have been around for at least 150 years. The small Diomede islands, one Russian and one belonging to the US, sit in the middle of the strait, only 2.4 miles (4 km) apart.

Dmitriev, who has struck up a working relationship with Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, suggested US energy majors could join Russian projects in the Arctic, and proposed that the tunnel be built by The Boring Company, a US tunnel construction company owned by billionaire and sometime Trump ally Elon Musk.

"Imagine connecting the US and Russia, the Americas and the Afro-Eurasia with the Putin-Trump Tunnel – a 70-mile link symbolizing unity. Traditional costs are $65B+, but @boringcompany's tech could reduce it to <$8B. Let's build a future together," Dmitriev wrote to Musk on X.

There was no immediate public response from Musk.

Beyond the tunnel itself, it would cost a huge sum to build and upgrade infrastructure on both sides of the strait. Chukotka's existing roads and railways are sparse, at best.

Dmitriev said a plan for a "Kennedy-Khrushchev World Peace Bridge" over the strait had been floated during the Cold War. He posted a sketch from that era of the route it might have taken, with a graphic showing the route the new tunnel could take.

"RDIF has already invested in and built the first ever Russia-China railroad bridge. The time has come to do more and connect the Continents for the first time in human history. The time has come to connect Russia and the US," Dmitriev said.

Reuters