Elon Musk's secret talks with Putin spark international concern

According to the "WSJ," citing current and former officials from the US, Europe, and Russia, the secret discussions of the world's richest man with Putin involved "geopolitics, business and personal matters."

In addition to talks with Putin, Elon Musk was reportedly engaged in regular conversations with "high-ranking Russians," including Sergey Kiriyenko, the deputy chief of the Russian President's administration. These contacts were said to have taken place from mid-2022 until 2024.

The newspaper doesn't provide many details about the discussions between the leaders but notes that Kiriyenko is accused by US authorities of directing Kremlin disinformation operations, including on Musk's platform X. The journal also notes that the intensification of the billionaire's contacts with Russia coincided with his shift in stance on supporting Ukraine and his repetition of Russian propaganda themes, including "a plan for peace" which proposed returning Crimea to Russia and ensuring Ukraine's neutrality.

Concerns were also raised about reports of Russian forces using the Starlink system, as well as the release on the X platform of an interview by right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson with Putin.

According to one source for the newspaper, Musk was subjected to public and private pressure, including veiled threats. Publicly, he was threatened by the then-head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. Moreover, the newspaper cites a former Russian intelligence officer saying that at the end of last year, Putin asked Musk not to activate the Starlink satellite network over Taiwan as a favour to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The company has not obtained permission to operate in Taiwan, although the Starlink website states that the system will be available there soon.

Although, according to the journal, Musk's secret conversations with Putin are a closely guarded secret, of which not even some White House officials are aware, in October 2022, the president of the Eurasia Group think tank, Ian Bremmer, reported that Musk himself told him about a conversation with Putin that took place just before the businessman proposed his "peace plan" for Ukraine on Twitter. According to Musk's account described by Bremmer, Putin allegedly claimed that Russia's goal is to maintain control over Crimea, recognise the annexed territories, and uphold Ukraine's "permanent neutrality," stating these as preconditions for peace negotiations. He also expressed interest in controlling the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions only as a connection point between Russia and Crimea.

Musk himself denied these reports on Twitter, claiming he had only spoken to Putin once, in 2021, and the topic was "space."

According to "WSJ," the South African-born businessman's contacts with the Russian president cause concern in the Pentagon and intelligence services due to the role Musk's company, SpaceX, plays as a contractor for the US government and a key partner of the space program. Because of this role, Musk can access documents marked "top secret." However, one newspaper interlocutor noted that "no alerts have been raised," indicating a potential breach of security rules by Musk.

The billionaire's contacts with Russians were reportedly ongoing while he was preparing to buy Twitter and engaged in Donald Trump's election campaign, who promises a quick end to the war in Ukraine and who also allegedly held secret talks with Putin.

In response to the journal's questions, a Trump campaign spokeswoman praised Musk. "As for Putin, there's only one candidate in the race that he did not invade another country under, and it's President Trump," she emphasised.

Elon Musk has not yet commented on the revelations published by the "WSJ."