"Musk denies claim that he had direct talks with Putin"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyeon-jin] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, reportedly claimed that he had direct conversations with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia who is at war with Ukraine, and was convinced of the possibility of nuclear weapon use. However, Musk strongly denied this immediately, saying it was 'not true.'

On the 11th (local time), according to Bloomberg and The Hill, Ian Bremmer, chairman of the U.S. think tank Eurasia Group, included in a newsletter sent to investors the day before that Musk had direct talks with President Putin and was convinced that Putin would use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Bremmer, known as a diplomatic expert, revealed that he had a conversation with Musk two weeks ago and during that process heard about the exchanges with President Putin. In the newsletter, he introduced that Putin told Musk that to end the war, conditions must include Russia’s continued possession of the Crimean Peninsula, official recognition of Ukraine’s neutral status, Ukraine’s acknowledgment of the merger of Luhansk and Donetsk, and control over Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

According to Bremmer, Musk told him that anything must be done to avoid a nuclear attack on Ukraine, and that Putin said such an event would occur if Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, attacked the Crimean Peninsula.

Bremmer explained, "I originally did not plan to write about this, but since Musk is publicly sharing his thoughts on Russia and Ukraine, I felt it was important to write about what is happening."

After seeing Bremmer’s newsletter, Sven Henrich, founder of NorthmanTrader, demanded Musk confirm whether it was true, to which Musk replied on Twitter, "Not true. I have only spoken with Putin once, 18 months ago," adding, "The topic was about space."

After Musk’s denial, Bremmer posted an additional message on his Twitter. He said, "As I have publicly stated, I have long respected Musk as a unique and world-changing entrepreneur. He is not a geopolitical expert," emphasizing, "I have been writing a weekly newsletter on geopolitics for 24 years and have honestly written about it, and this week was no different." He added, "Elon Musk told me that he had direct conversations with Putin and the Kremlin about Ukraine and also spoke about where the Kremlin’s 'red lines' are."

In response to Bremmer’s additional tweet, Musk again replied, "No one should believe Bremmer," Bloomberg reported.

This dispute between Bremmer and Musk is unfolding as Musk recently expressed his position regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

On the 3rd, Musk tweeted that a new referendum under UN supervision should be held in the four Ukrainian territories (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson) that Russia unilaterally declared annexed. Musk argued, "Since 1783, until Nikita Khrushchev’s mistake, Crimea was Russian territory," insisting that Crimea should be recognized as Russian territory.

In response, President Zelensky expressed strong displeasure, asking, "Which Musk do you prefer: the Musk who supports Ukraine or the Musk who supports Russia?" Meanwhile, Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian Kremlin, showed a friendly reaction, saying, "It is very positive that a figure like Elon Musk is seeking a peaceful solution in the current situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.