Musk and Putin in ‘regular contact’ for two years? Revealed by new report

Elon Musk (left) and Vladimir Putin (right)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin in regular contact from 2022 wall street journal The claims cited several current and former American, European and Russian officials.
In the report, the newspaper has claimed that the Russian President has asked Musk to avoid his activation. starlink Satellite internet service on Taiwan in favor of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. However, it is not clear whether Musk agreed to this request or not.
Wall Street said, “Although the US and its allies have isolated Putin in recent years, Musk’s talks could signal re-engagement with the Russian leader, and on major faults such as the war in Ukraine.” “Could strengthen Trump’s willingness to cut the deal.” The journal wrote.
It’s a coincidence that the report came just as Musk announced the resumption of his America PAC town hall, where he previously distributed prizes for his controversial $1 million sweepstakes for registered voters, which stifles free speech. Sign their political action committee’s petition pledging to preserve and protect the right to bear arms in swing states. The timing of the pause on these appearances is linked to a warning letter sent to the PAC by the Justice Department earlier this week.
Through SpaceX, Musk has obtained a national security clearance that gives him access to certain classified information. The Journal, citing a person reportedly familiar with the conversation between Musk and Putin, said no alerts have been issued by the administration about any potential security breach by Musk.
During a recent campaign appearance, Musk commented, “I have a top-secret clearance, but, I have to say, like most things I’m aware of…they keep it top-secret.” Keep it because it’s so boring.”
Earlier this month, Trump said he would appoint Musk to lead the Government Efficiency Commission if elected.
Trump’s team has previously denied that the former president continued to talk with Putin after leaving office, contradicting an article in journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, “War,” that claimed Trump sent a COVID-19 testing kit to the President of Russia during its peak. pandemic. In an interview with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait at the Chicago Economic Club, Trump said that if he had talked to Putin, it would have been a “smart thing to do.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in the report that the Kremlin’s only communication with Musk was a telephone call in which he and Putin discussed “space as well as current and future technologies.”
“This is absolutely false information published in The Wall Street Journal newspaper,” Peskov said after the report was published, refuting claims that Musk and Putin are in regular contact.
Musk himself said in a post on X in 2022 that he had spoken to Putin only once, claiming the conversation took place in 2021 and was about “space”. However, he gave airtime to Putin through his social media platform, X, which aired the Russian president’s interview with Tucker Carlson in February 2024. In the interview, Putin called Musk a “smart person” and said, “No one can stop Elon Musk. He will do what he thinks he needs to do.”
According to a Wall Street Journal report, a person familiar with the conversations told the newspaper that Musk was holding regular talks with “high-level Russians” as far back as the end of 2022. The source also noted that there was Kremlin pressure on Musk’s businesses and “veiled threats against [Musk].” The Journal suggests that these alleged threats were in response to Musk’s public support for Ukraine and providing Ukrainians with access to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet.
In October 2022, Ian Bremmer, founder of political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, wrote in a newsletter to clients that he had spoken to Musk two weeks earlier about his conversation with Putin. According to Bremer’s October 10 newsletter, Musk told him that Putin had outlined minimum requirements to end the war, including Crimea remaining Russian, Ukraine accepting formal status of neutrality and Luhansk, Donetsk. , including recognizing Kherson and Russia’s annexation. Zaporozhye. Putin also reportedly told Musk that if Zelensky invaded Crimea, Russia would retaliate with a nuclear attack on Ukraine.
Musk told Bremer that the Ukrainians had asked him to activate Starlink in Crimea, but he refused because of the potential for increased tensions. Bremer wrote, “Musk also seemed concerned about more direct threats from Putin. Although he didn’t elaborate with me, he did talk about Russian cyber capabilities and the ability for Russia to disrupt their satellites.” Shortly after Musk’s conversation with both Putin and Bremer, he posted on Labeled. At the time, Musk publicly denied in a tweet that he had said anything like that to Bremer.
The Wall Street Journal reports, “One current and one former intelligence source said Musk and Putin have had ongoing contacts since then and this year, when Musk began increasing his criticism of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including “Joined.” Trump’s election campaign.”
In a statement to ABC News on Friday, U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman Sue Gough said, “We have seen the Wall Street Journal’s reporting, but cannot confirm the veracity of those reports and were unable to speak through their private communications.” Will send you to Mr. Musk.” Gough said, “We expect all people with security clearance, including contractors, to follow the procedures set out for reporting foreign contacts.”