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Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and the most no-nonsense, security-clearance U. S. defense contractor, “has been in normal contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022,” the Wall Street Journal said Thursday, citing “several former and current American and European leaders. “and Russian officials. ” The talks coincided with Elon Musk “escalating his criticism” of the U. S. military’s aid to Ukraine, authorizing “Russia’s use of disinformation” and expanding its involvement in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to the Journal.
U. S. officials have not expressed any consideration of security breaches through Elon Musk, a user familiar with Musk’s conversations with Moscow told the Journal, but they “don’t like” his contacts with Putin, given the government’s reliance on Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets and satellites. The talks “touch on non-public issues, business, and geopolitical tensions,” the Journal said, and at one point, Putin asked Musk “to activate his Starlink satellite web service over Taiwan to do the Chinese leader a favor for Xi Jinping. “
Musk did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied that Putin was in regular contact with Musk. Earlier this year, Putin told Tucker Carlson in an interview broadcast on Musk’s X platform that Musk was “going to do what he thinks he needs to do,” and “you need to find some common ground with him, you need to search for some ways to persuade him.”
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site’s launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.