Amid ongoing tensions over the Ukraine war and debates about US military support, Russia has made an unexpected suggestion to build a massive tunnel connecting Alaska to Siberia.
The proposal comes at a delicate moment in international relations. Ukraine has been fighting Russian forces since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, with the United States serving as one of Kyiv's most crucial military and financial supporters.
However, in a lighthearted exchange during their Friday (17 October) meeting, Trump and Zelensky both brushed off the proposal to build the 70-mile rail tunnel, which would have been built by Elon Musk.
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When asked about the suggestion during his sit-down with the Ukrainian leader, Trump laughed before responding: “I just heard about it, that's an interesting one we'll have to think about.”
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The US president added that his administration has ‘just done a nice road in Alaska, that's going to get us to a lot of minerals.’
Zelensky weighed in to say that he ‘is not happy’ with the idea before Trump replied: “I didn't think you were going to like it,” prompting laughter in the room.
The proposed tunnel would run beneath the Bering Strait, the narrow waterway separating Russia from Alaska. According to a Kremlin envoy, the project could unlock joint exploration of natural resources and ‘symbolise unity’ between the two nations.
Moreover, the tunnel was reportedly suggested by Musk’s The Boring Company in an estimated $8 billion project, slashed down from a whopping $65 billion.
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Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy and head of Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, claimed that Moscow and 'international partners' like Musk, could build the rail and cargo link in under eight years.
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Dmitriev, who has been working to revive US-Russian relations, offered the idea shortly after Putin spoke with Trump by phone and the two leaders agreed to meet in Budapest to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.
“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,” Dmitriev wrote on X. “RDIF has studied existing proposals, including the US–Canada–Russia–China railroad, and will support the most viable.”
The Bering Strait, which separates Russia's Chukotka region from Alaska, is 51 miles wide at its narrowest point. While ideas to link the two points has circulated for at least 150 years, they never came to fruition.
Dmitriev also discussed the possibility of US energy companies taking minority stakes in Russian Arctic projects.
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“Imagine connecting the US and Russia, the Americas and the Afro-Eurasia with the Putin-Trump Tunnel - a 70-mile link symbolizing unity,” he wrote to the Tesla CEO on X.
'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 wrote.