Elon Musk denies accusations he spoke to Vladimir Putin before releasing a Twitter poll on ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy, said Musk told him about the Putin conversation. Musk rejected this.
Tesla’s CEO urged his 107.7 million followers to vote on Ukraine war solutions last week.
The recommendations included holding ballots in Russian-occupied and annexed portions of Ukraine. Moscow welcomed him.
President Putin has declared four Ukrainian areas to be part of Russia following bogus referendums. Russia doesn’t control all four areas.
Mr. Musk also suggested “officially” recognizing Crimea as part of Russia.
Mr. Bremmer stated in a newsletter that Mr. Musk informed him the Russian president was “willing to negotiate” but only if Crimea stayed under Russian authority, if Ukraine embraced permanent neutrality, and if Kyiv recognized Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
Mr. Bremmer said SpaceX’s CEO informed him Putin said these goals would be realized “no matter what” and that Ukraine’s invasion of Crimea may trigger a nuclear strike. Musk rejected the reports.
