On October 17, Mr. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), announced that discussions on the project to build a tunnel connecting Russia and the US through the Bering Strait had officially begun.
"Discussations about the tunnel have begun! ", he wrote on social network X.
The idea of a bridge or tunnel about 100km long connecting Siberia (Russia) to Alaska (USA) across the Bering Strait has been discussed for decades, dating back to the time of Russian Emperor Nicholas II. However, this project is always considered too expensive and technically complicated due to harsh weather conditions and remote geographical location of the area.
However, Mr. Dmitriev said that with modern technology, this super project is completely feasible. He said the tunnel could be completed in less than eight years at a cost of no more than $8 billion. This price is significantly lower than traditional estimates of over 65 billion USD, believed to be due to the application of advanced tunnel drilling technology of The Boring Company founded by Elon Musk.
According to him, the project could open up the possibility of exploiting rich natural resources in the Arctic region.
Notably, the idea seems to have received top-level attention in the US. According to the article, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on October 17, US President Donald Trump said he found the idea of the tunnel "interesting".
This positive response, although only preliminary, is considered an important signal showing the potential for cooperation between the two former opponents during the Cold War.
Dmitriev stressed that shared infrastructure projects could make big breakthroughs, and gave a recent example of success as proof. He reiterated that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has successfully invested in and built the first railway bridge connecting Russia and China across the Amur River. This bridge has significantly shortened the freight route and is a symbol of increasingly deep economic cooperation between the two countries.
Based on that success, Dmitriev said it was time for a much more ambitious project, a project that could change the global trade map.
Such a project would create a transcontinental road and railway, allowing for the first time in history to move goods on land from Europe to Asia and then directly to the Americas. In theory, it will open a completely new global trade corridor, capable of competing with traditional shipping routes and changing the world's economic flow.
