Putin-Trump tunnel to link Russia-US soon? Trump says ‘interesting’ proposal, Zelensky ‘not happy’

A Kremlin envoy has suggested that Russia and the United States construct a “Putin-Trump” rail tunnel under the Bering Strait to connect the two countries, enable joint natural resource exploration, and serve as a symbol of unity. While US President Donald Trump has found this suggestion “interesting,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “not happy” with the idea.

“A tunnel from Russia to Alaska – I just heard about that one,” Trump said, adding, “That’s an interesting one. We’ll have to think about that.”

The proposal came from Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin's investment envoy and head of Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund. He proposed a ‘Putin-Trump tunnel’ 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.

The idea to build a ‘Putin-Trump tunnel’ was floated after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held talks by phone to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine and agreed to meet in Budapest.

Asked about the idea on Friday by a reporter during a meeting in Washington with 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.

“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.

Elon Musk's company proposed as contractor

The Kremlin envoy also proposed that the ‘Putin-Trump tunnel’ could be constructed by The Boring Company, a US tunnel construction company owned by US billionaire Elon Musk.

He wrote to Elon Musk on X, “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.”

Trump-Zelensky meet

Donald Trump is hosting Volodymyr Zelensky for talks at the White House on Friday, with the US leader signaling he's not ready to agree to sell Kyiv a long-range missile system that the Ukrainians say they desperately need.

In recent days, Trump had shown an openness to selling Ukraine long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, even as Putin warned that such a move would further strain the US-Russian relationship.

But following Thursday's call with Putin, Trump appeared to downplay the prospects of Ukraine getting the missiles, which have a range of about 1,600 kilometres.

(With agency inputs)