Russian envoy announces surprise contract signing expected Saturday; project would span 113 km between Alaska and Russia's Far East; Trump once called it 'an interesting idea'; some see it as a symbol of improving US-Russia ties amid Ukraine peace talks

US President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Concerns about a nuclear arms race are growing as the New START treaty between the United States and Russia is set to expire Friday local time. [EPA]
US President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Concerns about a nuclear arms race are growing as the New START treaty between the United States and Russia is set to expire Friday local time. [EPA]

By Seo Ji-yeon, The Herald Business

A long-dormant proposal to build an undersea tunnel beneath the Bering Strait linking the United States and Russia has resurfaced, with Moscow signaling that the two countries are set to sign an agreement on tunnel design — raising speculation that a megaproject once dismissed as fantasy may be moving toward reality.

Russian state broadcaster Zvezda reported Thursday that Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Putin's special envoy for foreign investment and economic cooperation, said "there will be news on Saturday regarding the tunnel" and that "a contract will be signed to continue the tunnel design work."

Dmitriev said the project would become one of the major infrastructure undertakings between the United States and Russia.

The proposed tunnel would connect Russia's Far Eastern Chukotka region with the US state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. According to Dmitriev, it would stretch roughly 70 miles (113 kilometers).

If completed, it would rank among the largest infrastructure projects in the world, directly linking Asia and North America by land.

Dmitriev had previously pitched the project to Tesla CEO Elon Musk last October.

At the time, he wrote on X: "Imagine connecting the US and Russia, the Americas and Afro-Eurasia, with a Putin-Trump Tunnel."

He also said the tunnel could be completed within eight years and raised the possible involvement of The Boring Company, the tunnel construction firm owned by Musk.

The idea drew wide skepticism at the time, but it is drawing renewed attention amid a broader shift in US-Russia relations.

The timing of the announcement has also caught observers' attention.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is currently underway in Russia, and a US delegation led by Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the Trump-appointed chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, is attending.

Dmitriev also disclosed at the forum that he had recently spoken by phone with Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.

Both men have played significant roles in negotiations over ending the war in Ukraine.

Some observers say the project could therefore carry symbolic weight beyond its infrastructure value — potentially serving as a marker of improving US-Russia relations tied to the Ukraine peace process.

Trump himself has previously expressed interest in the idea.

Last October, when a reporter asked him about the Bering Strait tunnel concept during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump called it "an interesting idea" and said he would "have to think about it."

Zelensky, for his part, said that when Trump asked for his opinion, he replied that he did not feel good about it.

Even if the project moves forward, however, significant obstacles remain.

The Bering Strait is an extreme environment where winter temperatures can drop dozens of degrees below zero Celsius. Permafrost, sea ice and fierce winds make it one of the most challenging construction environments on earth.

The cost would also be staggering. Past research has estimated the price tag at anywhere from tens of billions of dollars to more than $100 billion.

Despite those hurdles, Russia has for years promoted the Bering Strait tunnel as a "project of the century" that would connect Eurasia and North America.


sjy@heraldcorp.com