The Kremlin on Friday denied Wall Street Journal reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin and billionaire Elon Musk have been in regular secret contact since late 2022, saying the two men only had one phone conversation and that it had taken place earlier. of this date.
According to an article published online Thursday evening in the Wall Street Journal citing Western and Russian officials, Putin and Musk, the richest man on the planet, head in particular of SpaceX, addressed personal but also geopolitical or commercial issues during these contacts.
In particular, the Russian president, according to two Wall Street Journal sources, asked Elon Musk not to activate his Starlink service, which provides Internet access via satellite, in Taiwan. It was a “favor” granted to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to this American media.
Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk had “contact before 2022,” he added.
“It was a telephone conversation of medium length. It was the only contact,” Dmitri Peskov insisted.
“The conversation was of an introductory nature, they talked about visionary technologies, technologies for the future, they compared the areas of technological development that Musk considered promising,” said the spokesperson.
“After that, there was no contact between Putin and Musk and all claims are false,” he said, considering it “probable” that the publication of this article was linked to the “election battle” in the United States before the presidential elections. scheduled for November 5.
Elon Musk, controversial personality, owner of Tesla and the social network
In particular, the South African businessman injected at least $75 million into his own political organization that supports Donald Trump.
At the beginning of October, the Kremlin had already denied reports from an American journalist that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had spoken seven times since leaving the White House in 2021.
Source: BFM TV
