-O. Adejo
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has denied speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a proposed peace deal to end the conflict.
Musk claimed in a tweet that he hadn’t spoken to President Putin in over a year. The denial came after an American political scientist, Ian Bremmner, president of the Eurasia Group political consulting firm, claimed that Musk told him that he spoke with Putin directly last month.
According to Musk, he has only spoken with Putin once in the last 18 months, and the subject was on matters concerning space technology.
On Twitter, the two men went back and forth with Bremmer insisting that Musk had been in contact with the Kremlin over the last month. Musk, on the other hand, stated that no one should believe Bremmner or anything he says.
Last week, Musk tweeted a Russia-Ukraine peace plan that mirrored some of Russia’s recent demands, including military neutrality for Kyiv, recognition that Crimea is formally part of Russia, and ensuring water supply to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. He also hinted that if nothing is done, there is a high risk of nuclear war.
Musk’s tweet was acknowledged by the Kremlin, but it was slammed by Ukrainians, including President Zelensky, who insisted that the tech billionaire was showing Russian support with his peace proposal. However, the similarities between Musk’s peace proposal and those of the Russians have made people skeptical of Musk’s denial that he met with Putin.
Elon Musk Denies Speaking to Putin Concerning Russian-Ukraine Conflict