🇷🇺 The WSJ: Elon Musk’s Secret Conversations With Vladimir Putin
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a linchpin of U.S. space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. The discussions, confirmed by several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials, touch on personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions. At one point, Putin asked the billionaire to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, said two people briefed on the request.
The grand irony of 2024’s political theater is watching Elon Musk – who bought Twitter for $44 billion in the name of “free speech absolutism” – engaging in private tête-à -têtes with Vladimir Putin, a man whose regime has perfected the art of making journalists and opposition leaders mysteriously fall out of windows.