Washington: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has called for an investigation into a Wall Street Journal report stating that SpaceX founder Elon Musk, has been in “regular contact” with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.
The WSJ report mentioned that Musk has discussed various topics, including personal matters, business, and geopolitical tensions, with Putin.
NASA Chief on Musk-Putin Secret Conversation
“I don’t know that that story is true. I think it should be investigated,” Nelson said.
He called the report “concerning” for NASA, Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence apparatus.
“If the story is true that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies,” he said.
White House Unaware About Musk-Putin Conversation
Several White House officials informed the Journal that they were unaware of any contact between Musk and Putin.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Friday that White House is “not in a position to corroborate”.
Kremlin Admits Musk-Putin Had One Conversation
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has admitted that Musk and Putin have had just one phone call, during which they talked about “space as well as current and future technologies.”
According to the WSJ, Musk has maintained regular communication with Putin, discussing a range of issues from personal matters to business interests and geopolitical tensions.
Various current and former officials from the US, Europe, and Russia have indicated awareness of these interactions, though this intelligence seems to be tightly controlled within the US government.
Putin Asked Musk Not To Activate Starlink Over Taiwan
A former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter claimed that Putin asked Musk to refrain from activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the report stated.
Musk receives Massive Criticism Over Report
Reacting to the report, Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov said that Elon Musk only cares about his business.
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