‘Putin and Musk in regular contact since 2022’: Report makes big claim ahead of US election

Musk has been campaigning for Donald Trump for the upcoming US presidential elections.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Their talks reportedly revolved around personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions. Former US, European and Russian officials told WSJ that Putin once asked Musk to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favour to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Amid Russia-Ukraine war, Musk’s dialogue could signal re-engagement with the Russian leader and reinforce Trump’s expressed desire to cut a deal over major fault lines such as the war in Ukraine, the WSJ report suggested. Musk has been campaigning for Donald Trump for the upcoming US presidential elections.

According to the WSJ, the US and its allies have isolated Putin in recent years. However, Musk’s dialogue could signal re-engagement with the Russian President and reinforce Trump’s expressed desire to cut a deal over major fault lines such as the war in Ukraine.

The WSJ report suggested that the contacts also raise potential national-security concerns, given Putin’s role as one of USA’s chief adversaries.

However, several White House officials told WSJ they weren’t aware of these developments.  Meanwhile, Musk has always rubbished claims that he has become an apologist for Putin. The Tesla CEO has said his companies “have done more to undermine Russia than anything”. Musk has previously faced accusations of selling Starlink terminals to Russia . However, Musk has firmly rejected these reports, calling them "categorically false”.

One person aware of the conversations told WSJ  that the government faces a dilemma because it is so dependent on the billionaire’s technologies. SpaceX launches vital national security satellites into orbit. Also,  NASA relies on it to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

“They don’t love it,” the person said, referring to the Musk-Putin contacts. The person, however, said no alerts have been raised by the administration over possible security breaches by Musk.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told WSJ the only communication the Kremlin has had with Musk was over one telephone call in which he and Putin discussed “space as well as current and future technologies”.

A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign called Musk “a once-in-a-generation industry leader”.

“As for Putin, there’s only one candidate in the race that he did not invade another country under, and it’s President Trump. President Trump has long said that he will re-establish his peace through strength foreign policy to deter Russia’s aggression and end the war in Ukraine,” the spokeswoman told WSJ.

The report suggested that the billionaire’s conversations with Putin and Kremlin officials highlight his increasing inclination to stretch beyond business and into geopolitics.