CNN’s Jake Tapper interviewed Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Kremlin Special Envoy, on Oct. 24, upon his arrival in the U.S. for conversations with his American counterpart, Steve Witkoff. Tapper asked Dmitriev about his widely circulated call for the construction of a “Friendship Tunnel” between the U.S. and Russia, across the Bering Strait. Dmitriev responded:
“Well, I think this idea is important just to showcase, once we overcome political difficulties, what the future may look like. And the origin of this idea is actually going back to almost 150 years ago when it was proposed by American business people to Tsarist Russia. It was discussed as the Kennedy-Khrushchev peace bridge. And Elon Musk has technologies that can get it done. And there is lots of economic rationale to do it. But I think it’s more important; it’s not just the project itself; but once, as the political difficulties are overcome, we believe there’s lots of economic cooperation that can happen, and this economic cooperation can be the foundation for a peaceful relationship between Russia and the U.S. And we need that foundation, because the security of the whole world depends on it.
