Elon Musk Denies Report He Spoke ‘Directly’ to Putin Before Offering Ukraine Peace Proposal the Kremlin Praised

CARINA JOHANSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, reportedly spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week before offering a peace plan to end Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine on Twitter – one which could result in Ukraine giving up a large portion of its territory. Musk denied the report in a tweet on Tuesday, shortly after the initial story was published.

The report was part of renowned political scientist Ian Bremmer’s Eurasia Group newsletter sent to subscribers. a Twitter user asked if the report was true and Musk replied, “No, it is not. I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.”

No, it is not. I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022

Vice’s Mathew Champion reported on Tuesday that Bremmer’s mailout claimed Musk spoke “directly” to Putin who assured him Russia was “prepared to negotiate” as long as Crimea remained apart of Russia. Championed added that Putin also demanded that “Ukraine accepted a form of permanent neutrality, and Ukraine recognised Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.”

Musk then took to Twitter and took a poll offering exactly that:

– Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people.
– Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).
– Water supply to Crimea assured.
– Ukraine remains neutral.

The final result on the Twitter poll, which had over 2.7 million votes, was 59% against Musk’s proposal, 41% in favor.

Bremmer added that Putin raised the spectre of nuclear war with Russia, Champion writes:

According to Bremmer, Musk said Putin told him these goals would be accomplished “no matter what,” including the potential of a nuclear strike if Ukraine invaded Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Bremmer wrote that Musk told him that “everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome.”

The Kremlin praised Musk for his peace proposal, which was blasted by Ukrainian officials including Andrik Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, who replied, “Fuck off is my very diplomatic reply to you.”

Fuck off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk

— Andrij Melnyk (@MelnykAndrij) October 3, 2022

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters after Musk tweeted last week, “It is very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation.”

“Compared to many professional diplomats, Musk is still searching for ways to achieve peace. And achieving peace without fulfilling Russia’s conditions is absolutely impossible,” he added.