Elon Musk, a tech magnate and leading Trump supporter, has maintained a regular conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a minimum of two years, according to a new report.
Numerous current and former officials from the United States, Europe, and Russia told The Wall Street Journal that Musk has engaged in discussions regarding personal matters, business, and geopolitical matters. Putin once requested that Musk refrain from activating his Starlink satellites and providing internet service over Taiwan.
The report disclosed that the Kremlin exerted public and private pressure on the world’s wealthiest individual in 2022.
“In May 2022, Russia’s space chief said in a post on Telegram that Elon Musk would ‘answer like an adult’ for supplying Starlink to Ukraine’s Azov battalion, which the Kremlin had singled out for the ultraright ideology espoused by some members,” the Journal reported.
The article continued: “Later in 2022, Musk was having regular conversations with ‘high-level Russians,’ according to a person familiar with the interactions. At the time, there was pressure from the Kremlin on Musk’s businesses and ‘implicit threats against him,’ the person said.”
That same year, Musk began pushing more Russian-aligned stances, including that SpaceX was losing money by funding terminals in Ukraine, as well as asking his followers on his app, X, to support peace plans that “mirrored some aspects of the Kremlin’s offer to Ukraine,” the Journal reported. Additionally, Musk has become more critical of American military aid to Ukraine.
The report comes after the Justice Department reportedly sent Elon Musk a warning letter after he began a lottery for voters in swing states.
