It was reported today that Elon Musk had said he met with Putin before making his peace ‘proposal‘ last week, which earned him the ire of many Urkaine supporters.
Ian Bremmer says Musk told him that he spoke directly to Putin before tweeting his “proposal” to end the war against Ukraine. https://t.co/EVSphNi3x0 pic.twitter.com/TL4JphMOzh
— Kyle Baxter (@kbaxter) October 11, 2022
Vice News reported:
Elon Musk spoke directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin before tweeting a proposal to end the war in Ukraine that would have seen territory permanently ceded to Russia, it has been claimed.
In a mailout sent to Eurasia Group subscribers, Ian Bremmer wrote that Tesla CEO Musk told him that Putin was “prepared to negotiate,” but only if Crimea remained Russian, if Ukraine accepted a form of permanent neutrality, and Ukraine recognised Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
According to Bremmer, Musk said Putin told him these goals would be accomplished “no matter what,” including the potential of a nuclear strike if Ukraine invaded Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Bremmer wrote that Musk told him that “everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome.”
Someone asked Elon about this today on Twitter, and he responded that the reporting is just not true.
Musk says he did not meet with Putin, noting the last time he did was 18 months ago and was only about the topic of space:
No, it is not. I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022