The owner of SpaceX, Tesla and social media platform X (formerly Twitter) made Starlink available to Ukraine at the start of the Ukrainian war, but later prevented Kiev from using the internet system for strikes against the Russian fleet.
Musk and Volodymyr Zelensky the Ukrainian president also had a spat on social media, and the billionaire took an increasingly pro-Russian position. Musk Donald Trump became a close supporter of the Republican presidential candidate – Trump has repeatedly spoken about his good relationship with Putin.
The South African-born businessman himself claimed that he spoke with the Russian head of state only oncenamely in April 2021 on issues related to space research.
U.S., European and Russian officials speaking to the WSJ, however, said that
From the end of 2022, Musk held regular meetings with Putin and other Kremlin leaders.
His interlocutors included Putin’s number one deputy chief of staff, Sergey Kiriyenkowho is in charge of propaganda and disinformation in the Kremlin.
Twitter, renamed X by Elon Musk, has been accused by many of being dominated by disinformation, hate speech, and content supporting radical and authoritarian forces since the businessman bought it.
According to officials speaking to the WSJ Putin reportedly asked Musk not to activate Starlink over Taiwan – with this, the Russian president wanted to favor the People’s Republic of China, which considers the island as its own territory. Starlink is currently not active in Taiwan.
The Kremlin denies that they held talks with Musk. White House officials said they were unaware of the existing relationship. However, according to the WSJ
the relationship between Musk and the Kremlin is a well-kept secret in the US government,
as the businessman has access to sensitive information.
Cover image credit: MTI/AP/Matt Rourke
Source: www.portfolio.hu
