Controversy over an alleged dialogue between Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk before launching his peace proposal for Russia and Ukraine

The American billionaire Elon Musk would have spoken directly with the Russian president, Vladimir Putinbefore tweeting a controversial proposal to end the war in Ukrainerevealed this Tuesday one of the most respected analysts of international politics in the world.

Ian Bremmerfounder of the political risk consultancy Eurasian Groupwrote in an email sent to his subscribers that Muskowner of the Tesla and SpaceX companies and the richest man in the world, told him that Putin was ‘prepared to negotiate’, although low three conditions: that crimea remained Russian, that Ukraine accepted a form of permanent neutrality and that Ukraine recognize the annexation of the regions of Lughansk, Donetsk, Kherson Y Zaporizhzhia by Russia.

However, Musk denied on Tuesday that he spoke with the Russian president. He said so in a response to a tweet where he was asked if the news was true.

“No, it is not. I have only spoken to Putin once and it was about 18 months ago. The topic we discussed was space, ”Musk wrote on his account on the social network.

In the past week, Musk posted essentially the same points on Twitter.. In his proposal cataloged as “peace between Ukraine and Russia”the richest man in the world said that the Crimean peninsula, annexed by the Kremlin in 2014, should be formally recognized as Russian territory, guarantee a constant supply of water to Crimea, that Ukraine should commit to remain neutral, that is, that it should not be NATO member, and ask the United Nations to oversee another round of referendums in eastern Ukraine, which would give Russia legitimacy before the world in those regions it wants to take over.

According to Bremmer, Putin told Musk that these goals would be achieved “no matter what.””, including a possible nuclear attack in the event that Ukraine invaded Crimea. Bremmer wrote that Musk told him that “everything possible had to be done to avoid that outcome.”

Already after tweeting his controversial proposal, Musk had said that “a possible outcome of this conflict, although unlikely, is a nuclear war” and, in interactions with users, he defended that he should seek peace for the good of the Ukrainians themselves, since, according to him, it is very unlikely that Ukraine will win in a “total war”.

Bremmer also wrote that Musk said he had turned down a request from Ukraine to activate its Starlink satellite internet network. in Crimea, a decision opposite to the one he had taken after the Russian invasion, when he authorized the network to keep the military connected from the country. According to the British newspaper Financial Times, Ukrainian forces have reported connectivity problems as they continue their counteroffensive in areas previously held by Russian forces in the east and northeast of the country. Musk responded by criticizing the reports of the FT and said that what happens on the battlefield is “classified”.

Musk’s survey provoked an angry reaction from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who considered it in favor of the Kremlin. The Ukrainian president has promised that he will take back all the territory conquered by Russia in the war and considers Crimea part of Ukraine.

In a sarcastic response, Zelensky posted his own poll on Twitter, asking: “Which Elon Musk do you prefer?”: “The one who supports Ukraine” or “The one who supports Russia”.

Musk replied to Zelensky that “I am still very supportive of Ukraine, but I am convinced that a massive escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and possibly to the world.”

“Russia is making a partial mobilization. They go to full war mobilization if Crimea is at risk. Death on both sides will be devastatingMusk wrote in another tweet. “Russia has three times the population of Ukraine, so Ukraine’s victory is unlikely in an all-out war. If you care about the people of Ukraine, seek peace.”

For its part, the Kremlin praised Musk’s proposal and warned that Russia will not back down in its steps to absorb the Ukrainian regions.

“It is very positive that a person like Elon Musk tries to seek a peaceful agreement,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. But, “regarding the referendums, people have expressed their opinion and there could be no other thing.”

Musk earlier this year challenged Vladimir Putin to a fight and said that he had spoken with the Russian president via video conference last year, without mentioning the most recent conversation revealed by Bremmer.

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