A ‘peace bridge’ connecting Russia to America, worth £6 billion. This is the Kremlin’s latest moonshot, pitched directly to billionaire Elon Musk.

At the White House, Donald Trump appeared to hear about it for the first time – or at least did a convincing impression of it.

‘A tunnel from Russia to Alaska. That’s…interesting,’ the US president said, when asked about the idea by reporters during his meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Asking Zelensky about the cross-border project, he said: ‘What do you think of that, Mr President?… How do you like that idea?’

The Ukrainian leader – who has been combating Russia’s war for more than three years – appeared less than thrilled.

‘I’m not happy with this,’ he warned, eliciting a laugh from his host.

The proposal by Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy and head of Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, would see a rail tunnel built under the Bering Strait that separates the Russian Far East from Alaska.

He suggested that linking the two nations would unlock joint exploration of natural resources and ‘symbolise unity’.

While plans for a bridge or a tunnel to cross the Bering Strait have been floated for decades, they have not generated much serious consideration because of the rocky relationship between the two superpowers.

In a post on X, the envoy claimed that the idea of a ‘peace bridge’ between Russia and Alaska dated back to the Cold War era.

Proposing that Musk is involved in the project with his company, Dmitriev said: ‘With modern @boringcompany technology this can become a Putin-Trump tunnel.’

There was no immediate public response from the Tesla and X CEO.

Beyond the tunnel itself, it would cost a huge sum to build and upgrade infrastructure on both sides of the strait. Chukotka’s existing roads and railways are sparse, at best.

In addition, Dmitriev suggested that the US could join Russia and China in joint ‘hydrocarbon projects in the Arctic,’ referring to expanded drilling for oil.

‘Certainly, Russia is eyeing the opportunity of joint Russia-China-US projects, including in the Arctic region, specifically in the energy sector,’ he said last month, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

This comes as Trump said ‘great progress’ was made during a phone call with Putin, with the two agreeing to face-to-face talks in Hungary.

It was their first call since mid-August, with the Republican describing it as ‘very productive’, adding that teams from the US and Russia will meet next week.

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When asked earlier this week if Trump was considering giving Ukraine the Tomahawks, he said: ‘We’ll see… I may.’

Russian musician Diana Loginova was jailed for playing a banned song in St Petersburg during protests.

Trump said the call with Putin was ‘productive.’

At least 30 people were injured after a Russian drone struck a train travelling to Kyiv, Ukraine.

Two people have been arrested after French forces raided a suspected Russian ghost ship linked to its ‘shadow fleet’.

It’s the largest autumn draft in more than a decade.

‘We are fighting and we are prevailing.’

The torture method has been described in a report which will be presented to the United Nations in a few weeks.

A 12-year-old girl is believed to be among those killed

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov issued the caution at the United Nations General Assembly.

Counter-drone expert says civilian airport defences need to be ramped up.

He added that the West ‘provoked’ the Ukraine war.

US President Donald Trump shifted his stance on whether Ukraine can regain all its land from Russia.

The Russian Antonov-124 terrified residents as it flew close to buildings to avoid Ukrainian drones.

German soldiers take part in the Lithuanian-German division-level international military exercise ‘Grand Quadriga 2024’ at a training range in Pabrade, north of the capital Vilnius (Picture: AP)

As many as 1,000 German soldiers…

The RAF jets patrolled the skies above Poland where Russian drones were shot down.

The RAF jets patrolled the skies above Poland where Russian drones were shot down.

The man, who identified only as Evans, was captured by Ukrainian soldiers on the Vovchansk front in Kharkiv Oblast.

Three Russian fighter jets have violated Estonia’s airspace in an ‘unprecedentedly brazen’ incursion onto NATO territory.

Sir Richard Moore said that the autocrat has lied to everybody, including himself about the inevitability of Russian victory.

Putin continued his savage aerial assault on Ukraine as Trump dined at Windsor Castle.

A French Air Force Dassault Rafale B fighter jet deployed at an unspecified location in the Polish airspace during an exercise as part of ‘Eastern Sentry’ Nato operation (Picture: AFP)

Russia has threatened war on Nato if the m…

A major defence-linked chemical plant and an oil refinery deep inside Russia are ablaze after a Ukrainian onslaught.

The audacious drone strike hit Metafrax Chemicals in Gubakha, Perm region, and the Novo-Ufimsky oil refinerary in Ufa, around 870 miles from the frontline.

One of Vladimir Putin’s largest refineries – Kirishi, in Leningrad region – was alight after a strike.

The chemical plant produces key explosives for the Russian armed forces while the Kirishi plant has a capacity of some 21 million tones per year.

The strikes unfolded as Nato was forced to scrambled war planes over Romania and Poland after Russian drones were operating on the border of Ukraine.

A ‘threat of an air attack’ warning was issued and the airport in the eastern Polish city of Lubin was shut briefly in response.

It was the second act of alleged Russian aggression in less than a week after Poland triggered Nato’s Article 4 over a drone swarm on Wednesday.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said the incident left the world the closest it’s been to conflict since World War II.

Earlier on Saturday, US president Donald Trump took to Truth Social to vow he would impose major sanctions on Putin – but only if Nato stops buying oil from Russia.

He wrote: ‘I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA.

‘As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking!

‘It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia. Anyway, I am ready to “go” when you are. Just say when?’

A newly erected border fence, topped with barbed wire, now lines a large portion of Finland’s 830-mile-long border with its unpredictable neighbour.