Elon Musk pushes back on report that he talked to Putin about war in Ukraine
Ian Bremmer doubles down on Twitter after Elon Musk denies report
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday refuted a report that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin before tweeting a Ukraine-related poll last week.
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Ian Bremmer, a political scientist and founder of Eurasia Group, said in a newsletter to subscribers that Musk told him that he had spoken to Putin about Ukraine and that the Russian president was "prepared to negotiate" if certain concessions were made, Vice News reported.
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The alleged conversation with Putin reportedly came before the Tesla CEO tweeted several proposals to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine along with a poll. The poll tweet, which received backlash, suggested Ukraine should give up Crimea and remain neutral, as well as hold new elections under United Nations supervision in the regions Russia claims to have annexed.
On Tuesday, NorthmanTrader founder Sven Henrich tweeted the VICE article about Bremmer's report, asking, "Is this true?"
"No, it is not," Musk said in response. "I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space."
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Elon Musk attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" exhibition on May 2 in New York. On Monday, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell defended Musk (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP / AP Newsroom)
A spokesperson for Eurasia Group directed FOX Business to a handful of tweets from Bremmer when reached for comment.
Bremmer tweeted early Tuesday evening that Musk "told me he had spoken with Putin and the Kremlin directly about Ukraine" and "also told me what the kremlin's red lines were."
"I have been writing my weekly newsletter on geopolitics for 24 yrs," he added. "I write honestly without fear or favor and this week's update was no different."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Armin Laschet, CDU Federal Chairman and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, talk during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory on Aug. 13, 2021 in Grünheide near Berlin, Germany. The US compan (Patrick Pleul - Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Bremmer went on to say that he has "long admired" Musk as a "unique and world-changing entrepreneur" but noted that the Tesla CEO is "not a geopolitics expert."
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In response to the political scientist's tweets, Musk replied, "Nobody should trust Bremmer."
FOX Business reached out to Tesla seeking further comment from Musk.