The proposal comes from Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin's investment emissary and head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund RDIF, writes Reuters.
The project calls for an investment of $8 billion, financed by Moscow and"international partners", to build a 112-kilometer rail and freight link in less than eight years.
Dmitriev, who is leading a Russian diplomatic offensive aimed at revitalizing Russian-American relations, launched the idea on Thursday evening on the X platform, after a phone call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in which the two agreed to meet in Budapest.
Asked about the project by a reporter on Friday during a meeting in Washington with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump called the idea “interesting” and asked Zelensky what he thought. “I’m not at all excited about this idea,” the Ukrainian leader replied, drawing laughter from the American delegation.
“The dream of a connection between the US and Russia through the Bering Strait reflects an old vision, from the Siberia–Alaska railway of 1904 to Russia’s 2007 plan. RDIF has reviewed existing proposals, including the US–Canada–Russia–China railway project, and will support the most viable option,” Dmitriev wrote on the X platform.
The Bering Strait, which is about 82 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, separates the vast and sparsely populated Russian region of Chukotka from Alaska. Ideas to connect them have been around for at least 150 years. In the middle of the strait are the Diomede Islands, one belonging to Russia and the other to the United States, just 4 kilometers apart.
Elon Musk's The Boring Company, possible builder
Dmitriev, who works with Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, suggested that major American energy companies could participate in joint projects with Russia in the Arctic and proposed that the tunnel be built by The Boring Company, the American underground construction company owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
"Imagine connecting the US and Russia, the Americas and Afro-Eurasia through the Putin–Trump Tunnel, a 70-mile link that symbolizes unity. Traditional costs would exceed $65 billion, but The Boring Company's technology could reduce them to under $8 billion. Let's build the future together," Dmitriev wrote to Musk on X.
"The time has come to connect the continents"
Beyond the tunnel itself, the costs of building and upgrading infrastructure on both sides would be enormous. Chukotka's road and rail network is rudimentary.
Dmitriev recalled that during the Cold War, a plan for a “Kennedy–Khrushchev World Peace Bridge” across the strait had been proposed. He published a sketch from that period showing the possible route, along with a map of the modern version of the tunnel.
"RDIF has already invested and built the first railway bridge between Russia and China. It's time to do more and connect the continents for the first time in human history. It's time to connect Russia and the USA," Dmitriev also wrote.
From the Soviet JFK docs released by @RepLuna: Kennedy–Khrushchev World Peace Bridge “could and should be built between Alaska and Russia at once.”
With modern @boringcompany technology this can become a Putin-Trump tunnel connecting the Eurasia and Americas for < $8 billion
— Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) October 16, 2025
