An American political scientist assessed the prospects for the construction of a tunnel through the Bering Strait

The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and American leader Donald Trump in Alaska may give an impetus to the development of joint projects on rare earth metals and the construction of a tunnel through the Bering Strait. Peter Kuznik, director of the Institute for Nuclear Research at the American University in Washington, told Izvestia about this.

Bering Breakthrough: what Russia expects from the Alaska meeting

And how to achieve progress on the Ukrainian settlement against the background of resistance from Kiev and Brussels

"This may mean the beginning of economic cooperation between the United States and Russia. The Arctic contains a large number of rare earth minerals. We could organize a joint project to develop them. They also discussed the tunnel through the Bering Strait, which is being discussed both here and in Russia. This is a major high—speed railway project connecting Eurasia and the United States," the analyst believes.

According to him, this is a very important step in improving relations and, possibly, in ending the Ukrainian conflict.

The talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are scheduled to take place on August 15 in Anchorage, Alaska.

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