Building a tunnel across the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska is an idea that has been around since at least the 1950s. And the Kremlin apparently thinks it’s good enough to revive it, if the CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund is to be believed.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, tweeted the idea on Thursday, including a map of where the tunnel might be built. And he believes billionaire oligarch Elon Musk would be the man to do it.
“@Alonmusk, imagine connecting the US and Russia, the US and Afro-Eurasia with a Putin-Trump tunnel – a 70 mile link symbolizing unity. The traditional cost is $65B+, but @boringcompany’s technology can reduce it to <$8B. Let's build the future together!" Dmitriev Tweeted,
President Donald Trump was asked about the proposal by a reporter at the White House during a press availability with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. Trump described the idea as “interesting” but added, “We’ll have to think about it. I hadn’t heard of that,” according to cnbc,
How feasible will the tunnel be? Theoretically, this is entirely possible. But Elon Musk cannot be the person to do this. The billionaire CEO has over-promised and under-promised when it comes to his tunnel construction projects. Musk has often pitched big ideas, but when it comes time to actually do them, he often pitches something less spectacular.
Dmitriev tweeted about the proposal for a “Kennedy-Khrushchev World Peace Bridge”, which was conceived in the early 1960s.
Released from Soviet JFK documents @repluna: The Kennedy-Khrushchev World Peace Bridge “can and should be built at once between Alaska and Russia.”
with modern @boringcompany The technology could make it a Putin-Trump tunnel connecting Eurasia and the US for <$8 billion pic.twitter.com/c84VK75rh5
– Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) 16 October 2025
But the idea is even older, as you can see in the March 3, 1959 edition of Arthur Radebaugh’s “Closer Than We Think.” sunday comic strip,
From Patti:
Sen. Magnuson of Washington has a bold new idea to connect our newest state, Alaska, with Siberia via a bridge or vehicular tunnel in the shallow waters of 30 to 40 miles of the Bering Strait. It will travel from Wales, at the tip of the Seward Peninsula, to Little Diomede and Big Diomede Islands, from there to Payak, Siberia.
The senator predicted this hook-up within the lifetime of the present generation, so as to create a rail and road route between such distant points as New York and Paris. He says, “I am confident that the tourists who will one day walk this route will be our best ambassadors!”
Is the idea of a tunnel connecting Russia and the US just a troll by the Russian government to take aim at Trump at a time when the country continues its war against Ukraine? almost certainly. But this does not mean that a tunnel cannot be built in the future. Especially if Trump takes another wild turn and decides he doesn’t want to help Ukraine anymore.
In fact, there were some signs that Trump was ready to resign on Friday. trump Posted on Truth Social Regarding his meeting with Zelensky he described it as “very interesting and cordial” and said he wanted the killings to stop and the Ukrainian leader to reach an agreement. And then he went into some strange territory.
“Enough blood has been spilled, property lines are being defined by war and courage. They must stop where they are. Let both claim victory, let history decide! No more shootings, no more deaths, no more spending of vast and unsustainable sums of money. This is a war that would never have started if I were President. Thousands of people are being slaughtered every week – no more, go home to your families in peace!” Trump wrote.
We may or may not get a tunnel between America and Russia soon. But it feels like peace between Russia and Ukraine is further away than ever.
