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.’

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.

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

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.

The key Putin supporter is not a fan of Britain.

Ukraine sparingly uses Western-made missiles, including UK Storm Shadow missiles, to strike inside Russia, but the weapons are vital in their defence as they continue to face Russian strikes.

Vladimir Putin has made the startling claim that the West is responsible for the conflict in Ukraine.

The Russian dictator said he was doing all he could to stop the war despite continuing to launch missile and drone strikes on civilians.

He also claimed Western people were friendly to him and Russia.

His comments came during a visit to secret closed nuclear city Sarov – the birthplace of the Soviet atomic bomb – on Friday.

Putin said: ‘Of course, there is propaganda working there [in the West], brainwashing people and claiming that we started the war.

The West and Kyiv were ‘forgetting that it was they [Ukraine] who started it in 2014 when they used tanks and aviation against the peaceful population of Donbas.

‘That is when the war began, and we are doing everything to stop it.’

It comes a week after Putin met with US president Donald Trump to trash out peace talks in Alaska.

Peace talks have stalled but it raised the hopes of Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky meeting face-to-face for the first time since 2019.

In another incredible claim, Putin himself stopped military commanders from taking out Zelensky last year, according to one of his closest allies.

Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, who once described the Russian leader as his ‘elder brother’, says Putin forbade plans to strike the headquarters of the Ukrainian presidency in Bankova area of Kyiv.

It came after the Russian doomsday missile system Oreshnik was tested without live warheads in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024.

It sparked the plot to target Zelensky’s bunker and the heart of the government, according to Lukashenko, but Putin had other ideas.

He said: ‘After they struck with the Oreshnik, the Ukrainians realised: trouble’.

‘They can also hit Bankova. Insider information for you. Somone in Russia had such plans – (I will not name them).

‘Putin said: “Under no circumstances”.

‘They were ready to strike.

‘If they had fired the Oreshnik at the centres of decision-making, there would have been nothing left there’.

‘There are two choices: war or peace, and if there is no peace, then there is more war’

Switzerland has emerged as the likely contender to host the meeting between Zelensky and Putin (Picture: Getty)

Talks of a breakthrough in Russia’s war in Ukraine have rumbled before – but now the prospect of Vladimir Putin and…

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The elephant in the room is a potential meeting between Vladimir Putin and Zelensky – is it even feasible?

‘Everyone is happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine’.

‘Of course, as soon as I walk out the door, there’ll probably be a new war starting, and I’ll get that stopped too’

‘Look, I like it!’

‘There are no words.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders rushed to the White House three days after the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

It comes after the Alaska summit on Friday in which Putin and Trump failed to make a deal.

This time, the Ukrainian leader has made the guest list.

Vladimir Putin’s twitching legs as he bade farewell to Donald Trump after their Alaska summit have reignited rumours over his health.

Ukraine didn’t even get an invite.

‘We’ll see if they get along.’

Trump has said that he wants to arrange a historic sit-down between the two warring leaders