MOSCOW: Russia’s Presidential Envoy for Economic Affairs Kirill Dmitriev has claimed that Moscow and Washington have begun preliminary talks on building a tunnel under the Bering Strait to link the two countries.
“Discussions on the tunnel begin,” Dmitriev announced on Friday on X, adding that the idea could mark a new chapter in Russia–US cooperation. Dmitriev, who also heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said the project would leverage modern technology to make construction feasible within eight years at a cost of under $8 billion — a fraction of the traditional $65 billion estimate.
According to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, US President Donald Trump described the proposal as “interesting” during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, saying the tunnel could enhance global connectivity through railway transport linking the continents.
Dmitriev said the plan, dubbed the “Putin–Trump Tunnel,” would create jobs, boost trade, and foster economic cooperation between the two nuclear powers. He cited RDIF’s experience in developing cross-border infrastructure, including railway bridges between Russia and China, as evidence of the project’s technical credibility.
If realised, the tunnel would represent one of the most ambitious infrastructure undertakings of the 21st century — a literal bridge between two rivals separated by politics, but connected by geography.
