鬼百合
One day we will wake to his obituary :-)
Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Putin for two years, says report
Alleged talks between billionaire and Russian president could have enormous security implications
Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Putin for two years, says report
Alleged talks between billionaire and Russian president could have enormous security implications
www.theguardian.com
Alleged talks between billionaire and Russian president could have enormous security implicationsJulian Borger
Fri 25 Oct 2024 10.47 EDT
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Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is now central to Donald Trump’s election campaign, has been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin for the past two years, according to a report in the US.
The Wall Street Journal, citing several in-post and former US, European and Russian officials, reported that the conversations between the two men ranged from the personal to the geopolitical and included a request from the Russian leader not to activate his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favour to the Chinese leader and Putin ally, Xi Jinping.
The implications of a secret channel of communication between Musk and Putin are enormous for western security. The Tesla tycoon is a key player in the US space programme and has a high-level security clearance. His company SpaceX launches US national security satellites, his Starlink satellite communications system is critical to the war in Ukraine, and he runs one of the world’s biggest and most influential social media platforms, X, which has provided a vehicle for Russian disinformation campaigns.
Furthermore, if Trump is elected on 5 November, Musk could play an important part in a new US administration. He has poured his own money into the campaign and made multiple personal appearances at rallies. Trump has suggested Musk could head a government commission on efficiency if he wins.
“This is a story about oligarch capture of the US,” said Fiona Hill, who was the senior director for European and Russian affairs in the Trump White House. She compared the situation in the US now to the heyday of oligarchs in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union.
“If people like Musk get Trump re-elected, they’ll expect all kinds of regulatory gifts in their favour,” said Hill, who is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, the chancellor of Durham University and a defence adviser to the UK government.
She added: “He is in a position to command government contracts, potentially with a government position, and there are loads of militaries around the world dependent on his systems, not least Ukraine.”
Earlier this month, the journalist Bob Woodard reported in his new book that Trump himself has had as many as seven private phone calls with Putin since leaving office. Trump has said he will not comment on the reporting but that if he had spoken with Putin it would have been “a smart thing”.
The Wall Street Journal report said the extent of Musk’s contacts with Putin was a closely held secret and even some officials in the Biden White House had been unaware of them.
