American billionaire Ilon Musk has been in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for almost two years, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing official sources from the US, Europe and Russia. The journalistic investigation revealed that Musk and Putin were discussing different topics - from business to geopolitical issues that are severity against the background of tension between Russia and the West.
Despite the fact that Musk officially confirmed only one conversation with the Russian President in 2021, the journalist investigation shows that the contacts between the billionaire and high -ranking Kremlin officials, including the first deputy head of Putin administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, continued in 2022. However, the exact content of these discussions remains a secret.
A significant level of influence of the mask in the field of American technologies and its cooperation with the US government is a concern in Washington. SpaceX and Tesla founder has sensitive contracts with the US government, including Pentagon and NASA. Due to its links, Musk accesses strategic information, in particular through launching in the orbit of US national security satellites and participation in NASA projects related to the International Space Station.
The White House, although it has part of information about the contact of the mask with Russian officials, does not officially comment on them. Some US officials are concerned about the probable impact that Musk may have on international policy, because his position is increasingly going beyond commercial interests, going into political waters.
The recent action of the mask also causes fears in connection with its active support for certain political circles, including Donald Trump, which only increases attention to his contact with the Kremlin. On the question of his connection with the Russian authorities, Musk answered restrained, noting that the accusations of his cooperation with the Kremlin were "absurd", and his company, he said, "made a greater contribution to the weakening of Russia than anyone else."
Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov denies the presence of regular contacts of the mask with Putin, stating that the only conversation between them was one telephone conversation dedicated to discussing space technologies. However, the information collected by journalists draws another picture: Musk actively communicates not only with the Russian leadership, but also with politicians and leaders of other countries, including Argentina and Brazil.
According to one of the sources, the US government is in a difficult situation: on the one hand, it depends significantly on the technologies of the mask, but on the other - it cannot be ignored by its connection with the Kremlin. SpaceX performs key national security satellites and transports astronauts into orbit, so any mask breakdown can have serious consequences for the US.
