Kremlin envoy proposes ‘Putin-Trump tunnel’ to hyperlink Russia and U.S.
Reuters
President Donald Trump mentioned Friday {that a} Russian proposal for Elon Musk and his tunneling enterprise, the Boring Firm, to construct an undersea rail tunnel by the Bering Strait was “fascinating” and he’d have to consider it.
“That is an fascinating one,” Trump mentioned when requested in regards to the advised tunnel from Russia to Alaska. “We’ll have to consider that. I hadn’t heard that.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned he was “not completely satisfied” with the thought following Trump’s response.
Kirill Dmitriev, an funding envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, advised in posts on Musk’s social media platform X that the mission can be partly funded by Moscow.
Dmitriev mentioned it will be “a 70-mile hyperlink symbolizing unity.”
A tunnel like this could historically price an estimated $65 billion to construct, mentioned Dmitriev, who’s head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, including that The Boring Firm and its know-how might probably scale back these prices to $8 billion and full the mission inside eight years.
“Let’s construct a future collectively!” he wrote.
Dmitriev’s suggestion adopted a name between Putin and Trump on Thursday, throughout which plans have been made to debate attainable resolutions to the Ukraine Struggle.
Trump mentioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio and different high-level advisors will meet subsequent week with a Russian delegation earlier than Trump and Putin meet in Budapest, Hungary, at a future date.
Musk didn’t reply to a request for remark in regards to the proposal.
Development of an undersea tunnel within the Bering Strait would require Musk’s Boring Firm to work by below-freezing temperatures in a area with out current infrastructure and with deep and frequent earthquakes.
The Boring Firm has no monitor file of working by such situations.
Its earlier tunneling efforts have been accomplished in scorching, dry places with loads of infrastructure and companies close by.
The Boring Firm was just lately fined and cited by environmental regulators within the state of Nevada for an “extraordinary variety of violations,” ProPublica reported, citing public data. These violations included: digging with out approval, releasing untreated water onto metropolis streets and spilling waste from vehicles.
The Boring Firm is now engaged on a 10-mile tunnel mission from downtown Nashville, Tennessee, to its airport, dubbed the Music Metropolis Loop. Residents protested, partly, as a result of lack of planning earlier than The Boring Firm mission was approved within the flood-prone metropolis.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as they arrives at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on August 15, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Photos
Musk’s automaker, Tesla, has provide chain ties to Russia, and the CEO has spoken with Putin about different issues previously few years.
The EV maker has bought tens of millions of euros price of aluminum from Rusal, an organization based by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, CNBC beforehand reported.
Musk held secret talks with Putin in 2022, the Wall Avenue Journal reported in October 2024.
In a single occasion, Putin had pressured Musk to direct SpaceX to withold Starlink, its satellite tv for pc web communications service, from Taiwan as a favor to Chinese language President Xi Jinping, the Journal reported, citing two folks briefed on the request.
Beijing is a essential ally to the Kremlin.
The conversations between Musk and Putin, who as soon as ran the KGB, reportedly occurred as Musk was within the midst of a leveraged buyout and takeover of Twitter, now often known as X.
Working with NASA, Musk’s aerospace and protection contractor, SpaceX, has additionally launched Russian cosmonauts to the Worldwide Area Station.
CNBC’s Chris Eudaily contributed to this story.
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