Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA, Financials), has engaged in discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022, The Wall Street Journal said, citing anonymous sources.
Citing many current and former officials from the United States, Europe, and Russia, the Wall Street Journal said that Musk's talks with Putin included both personal and commercial affairs. Reportedly as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin asked Musk not to turn on Starlink, their satellite internet service, above Taiwan at one time.
Because Musk works extensively with U.S. government entities like NASA via SpaceX, these contacts have generated possible national security concerns, the Journal said. According the article, Musk also has a security clearance allowing him access to secret material.
Declining to discuss Musk's security clearance, a Pentagon spokesman said, "We do not comment on any individual's security clearance, review or status, or about personnel security policy matters in the context of reports about any individual's actions."
In October 2022, Musk said on X, the site he owns—formerly known as Twitter—that he had just once discussed space with Putin in April 2021.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Musk and Putin simply discussed in a phone conversation about future technologies and space.
