Since the end of 2022, Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Wall Street Journal has learned. Elon Musk told the public in October 2022 that he had spoken with Putin only once, in April 2021. According to him, the conversation was about space exploration.
Based on Russian, American and European officials, the newspaper says that since then, several conversations have taken place between Musk and the Russian President, as well as high-level Russian officials. According to reports, one of these officials was Sergei Kiriyenko, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Office. Last month, the US Department of Justice said in a statement that Kiriyenko had created nearly 30 internet domains to spread Russian disinformation, including Musk's X site.
After the Russian invasion in February 2022, Musk initially stood firmly in favor of Ukraine, and then — as it later turned out, in exchange for some benefits — connected Ukraine to satellite internet service provider Starlink. But in September of the same year, by stopping the service, he managed to prevent one of the Ukrainian attacks in Crimea, which he himself later admitted. SpaceX then expanded restrictions on the use of Starlink to include offensive operations in Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal wrote that these steps coincided with increased pressure from the Kremlin. According to the newspaper's sources, Musk held regular conversations with high-ranking Russian officials, and said that there were “silent threats” against the tech billionaire at the time. In October 2022, Musk was already calling for peace, on the Russians' terms — that is, along with further Russian occupation of Crimea and Ukrainian neutrality outside NATO.
Over the past year, Musk and Russia's interests have increasingly intertwined. In addition to Russia's use of
The newspaper also learned from a Russian intelligence official that the Russian leadership asked Musk at the end of last year not to activate Starlink over Taiwan. With this request – in parallel with strengthening Russian-Chinese relations – China was doing a favor. A representative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington said they do not know the details and cannot comment on the case.
Earlier this year, X broadcast Tucker Carlson's two-hour interview with Putin, in which the Russian president said he was sure Musk was a “smart guy.” “Elon Musk cannot be stopped,” Putin said at the time. “He will do whatever he wants.”
The tech billionaire's relationship with Putin also raises national security concerns in the current administration. In fact, Musk has built close business relationships with the US military and intelligence agencies, giving him insight into US space programs, and SpaceX, which operates Starlink, is the primary rocket launch pad for the Pentagon and NASA. In addition, Musk is taking an increasing role in Trump's campaign, in the last quarter he supported the Republican presidential candidate with 27.6 billion Hungarian forints. Perhaps this is why the White House was silent about Musk’s Russian contacts, and the Pentagon did not comment on the newspaper’s reports, nor did Elon Musk.
We wrote more about Elon Musk's life in this article.
