Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk denied a report Tuesday that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin before proposing a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
SO WHAT
It’s a brave new world where wartime diplomacy with a nuclear-armed autocrat plays out on Twitter.
WHAT HAPPENED
Ian Bremmer, an influential political scientist and international consultant, claimed on Twitter and in his Eurasia Group email newsletter Tuesday that Musk told him he’d spoken to Putin before tweeting out the peace plan.
Musk replied to Bremmer’s tweet: “Nobody should trust Bremmer.”
- Asked later if Bremmer’s claim was accurate, Musk tweeted: “No, it is not. I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.”
“So Ian Bremmer, a consultant, and Elon Musk, an engineer who makes electric cars, are the ones doing our diplomacy? Have we considered some kind of State Department for this role?” journalist Zaid Jilani commented.
WHAT ELSE
Amid mounting fears that Russia could use a nuclear weapon in its faltering invasion of Ukraine, Musk last week proposed an agreement to end the war.
- His plan would formally recognize Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and keep Ukraine out of NATO, its ally in the conflict.
- Musk also called a United Nations-supervised do-over of recent referendums that Russia used to justify annexing four Ukrainian territories.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded sarcastically to Musk’s proposal, tweeting out a poll asking: “Which Elon Musk do you like more?”: “One who supports Ukraine” or “One who supports Russia.”
“I still very much support Ukraine,” Musk replied, “but am convinced that massive escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and possibly the world.”