Kirill Dmitriev first posted about the idea on Thursday, suggesting a “Putin-Trump” rail tunnel could connect the two countries under the Bering Strait, which separates Russia’s vast and sparsely populated Chukotka region from Alaska.
Asked about the idea during a press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, Donald Trump called it “interesting”.
He also asked President Zelenskyy what he made of it, to which Mr Zelenskyy replied: “I’m not happy with this idea.”
This prompted laughter from the US side.
Overnight, Mr Dmitriev posted on X, saying: "We have started the feasibility study of the Russia-Alaska tunnel six months ago.
Has anybody asked Alaskans if they’d like to be Canadian? I would jump at the chance right now if I was them.
I lived in Alaska for a while and despite the state being a bit more conservative, most people I knew there had a pretty favorable opinion of Canada. I’d say they would like it.