Elon Musk denies report he spoke to Putin about use of nuclear weapons - The Guardian

Elon Musk has denied a study that helium spoke to Vladimir Putin, including astir the imaginable for utilizing atomic weapons, earlier floating a bid program that suggested that Ukraine cede territory to Russia.

The caput of the Eurasia Group governmental hazard consultancy, who made the archetypal claim, had insisted that his root was Musk himself. “Elon Musk told maine helium had spoken with Putin and the Kremlin straight astir Ukraine,” Ian Bremmer said in a tweet aft Musk’s tweeted denial. “He besides told maine what the kremlin’s reddish lines were.

“I person been penning my play newsletter connected geopolitics for 24 yrs. I constitute honestly without fearfulness oregon favour and this week’s update was nary different.”

In a newsletter for Eurasia Group subscribers, Bremmer wrote that the Tesla CEO told him Putin was “prepared to negotiate”, but lone if Crimea remained Russian, if Ukraine accepted a signifier of imperishable neutrality, and Ukraine recognised Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Such conditions would correspond near-total Ukrainian capitulation astatine a clip erstwhile their forces are connected the offensive.

In the newsletter, archetypal reported by Vice News, Bremmer said Musk claimed to person been told by Putin that those warfare aims would beryllium achieved “no substance what”, including the imaginable usage of a atomic limb if Ukraine retook territory successful Crimea, which Russia annexed successful 2014. Bremmer said Musk told him that “everything needed to beryllium done to debar that outcome”.

On 3 October, Musk provoked worldwide outrage by tweeting a connection on akin lines, suggesting that Crimea was fundamentally Russian, and that sham referendums successful 4 different occupied Ukrainian provinces should beryllium redone nether UN supervision, with Russia leaving lone if they mislaid the vote. He suggested Ukraine would pledge semipermanent neutrality and warrant the h2o proviso to Crimea.

Musk enactment the proposals to an online vote, successful which they were rejected. They were fixed prominence successful Russian authorities media, but derided successful Ukraine. The country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, conducted a tongue-in-cheek poll of his own connected “which Elon Musk” readers preferred: the 1 who supported Ukraine, oregon the 1 who supported Russia.

Musk denied having talked to the Russian person earlier floating his ideas.

“I person spoken to Putin lone erstwhile and that was astir 18 months ago. The taxable substance was space,” helium said connected Twitter.

After Bremmer publically stood by his account, Musk tweeted: “Nobody should spot Bremmer.”