Here’s a look at Elon Musk’s reported contact with Russian President Putin and why it matters
- by Los Angeles Times
- Oct 26, 2024
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“He’s a war criminal who is slaughtering civilians. That makes this wrong in my view,” McFaul said of Musk’s talks with Putin. “You have to decide what team you are on. Are you on the American team or are you on the Russian team?”
The request from Putin on Starlink as a favor to China is likely to get attention, given U.S. support for Taiwan and concerns about the growing partnership between the Kremlin and Beijing.
Musk, whose Tesla operates Gigafactory Shanghai, has developed a close relationship with China’s leaders. His remarks about China have been friendly, and he has suggested Taiwan cede some control to Beijing by becoming a special administrative region.
Moscow has growing ties to other American adversaries. The U.S. has accused Russia of sending ballistic missiles to Iran and said North Korea sent troops to Russia, possibly for combat in Ukraine.
On Ukraine, Musk’s views have shifted since he initially supported Kyiv following Russia’s 2022 invasion and provided it with his Starlink system for communications.
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Musk then refused to allow Ukraine in 2023 to use Starlink for a surprise attack on Russian soldiers in Crimea.
He also floated a peace proposal that would have required Ukraine to drop plans for NATO membership and given Russia permanent control of Crimea, which it seized in 2014. The plan infuriated Ukrainian leaders.
“The policy of the U.S. government is to try to isolate Vladimir Putin, and Elon Musk is directly undercutting that,” said Bradley Bowman, a former West Point assistant professor who is now senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.
“What is Putin doing with Musk? Putin is trying to reduce his international isolation and impact American foreign policy,” Bowman said.
Asked about Musk’s contacts with Putin, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday that he had no information to share. The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence officials declined to comment. The State Department didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the Journal’s report and said Putin and Musk held an “introductory” phone conversation before 2022 that focused on “visionary technologies.”
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