Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy has publicly called on Elon Musk to partner with Russia to build an undersea tunnel connecting Alaska and Russia, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of resuming trade between the two nations once the war in Ukraine ends, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a special envoy for investment, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, proposing what he dubbed the “Putin-Trump Tunnel” — a 70-mile link beneath the Bering Strait that he said could “symbolize unity” between the two countries.
“Imagine connecting the U.S. and Russia, the Americas and the Afro-Eurasia with the Putin-Trump Tunnel — a 70-mile link symbolising unity,” Dmitriev wrote. He added that with technology from Musk’s Boring Company, the cost of such a massive infrastructure project could drop from an estimated $65 billion to under $8 billion.
The proposal came just hours after a call between Presidents Trump and Putin — their first since a summit in Alaska in August that failed to deliver a breakthrough on the Ukraine crisis. Following the call, Trump said the two leaders “spent a great deal of time talking about trade between Russia and the United States when the war with Ukraine is over.”
According to the Financial Times, the Kremlin has been seeking to entice Trump with economic cooperation prospects in the event that Western sanctions are lifted. Dmitriev, a graduate of Stanford and Harvard, has been a key intermediary in U.S.-Russia talks this year, including meetings in Saudi Arabia involving U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
Dmitriev has claimed that American companies have lost more than $340 billion by withdrawing from the Russian market and suggested they could reclaim opportunities vacated by European firms. He has also promoted potential U.S.-Russia ventures in energy and Arctic infrastructure.
The idea of a trans-Bering Strait connection is not new. Dmitriev referenced historical precedents, including a 1904 proposal for a Siberia-Alaska railway and Russia’s 2007 plan for a similar link. However, engineers have long warned that the region’s extreme conditions — including frequent seismic activity and temperatures that plunge well below zero — make such a project extraordinarily difficult.
If ever realized, the proposed tunnel would more than double the length of the Channel Tunnel between the U.K. and France, which stretches 31.5 miles.
“The dream of a U.S.-Russia link via the Bering Strait reflects an enduring vision,” Dmitriev wrote, adding that the Russian Direct Investment Fund “has studied existing proposals, including the U.S.-Canada-Russia-China railroad, and will support the most viable.”
The Boring Company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
