"Musk's Secret Two-Year Talks with Putin Reported... Russia Calls It 'Fake Information'"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has reportedly communicated secretly with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the past two years. Russia has denied the claims, calling them "fake information."

On the 24th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited current and former officials from the US, Europe, and Russia, reporting that Musk and President Putin have been communicating regularly since the end of 2022. The two reportedly discussed not only business and personal matters but also international political issues.

This is the first time it has been revealed that Musk and Putin have maintained long-term communication. In particular, it is reported that President Putin asked Musk late last year not to provide Starlink services to Taiwan. Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by the space company SpaceX. Since general internet access is virtually impossible in war zones except through Starlink, the request is interpreted as a plea not to assist Taiwan with Starlink services in the future.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla [Photo by Yonhap News]

Recently, Musk publicly criticized the US government’s military aid to Ukraine. It is also reported that when the Ukrainian military attempted to target the Crimean Peninsula occupied by Russia, Starlink access was cut off. On the other hand, Ukraine claims that Russian forces, who had no internet access, have recently been connecting to Starlink through third parties.

Since Musk can access classified information of the US government through SpaceX contracts with NASA and the Department of Defense, there are criticisms that his secret conversations with the leader of an adversary country pose a serious security threat.

Russian President Vladimir Putin
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Kremlin denied WSJ’s report. According to TASS news agency, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated at a briefing on the 25th, "None of this is true and it is clearly fake information." He added , "Unfortunately, many US media outlets, including WSJ, have recently produced too much fake news," and said, "We do not have the habit of reading such publications first thing over coffee. We no longer regard such publications as authoritative or trustworthy newspapers."