Tesla billionaire Elon Musk says reports he spoke directly with Vladimir Putin about the ongoing war in Ukraine are false. <\/p>\n
The claims were initially made by Ian Bremmer, the president of the Eurasia Group consulting company, in a newsletter to subscribers.<\/p>\n
Bremmer had claimed Musk spoke with Moscow on nuclear weapons and a \u201cpeace deal\u201d that would see Ukraine give up territory to Russia.<\/p>\n
Later, Bremmer wrote on Twitter that \u201cElon Musk told me he had spoken with Putin and the Kremlin directly about Ukraine. He also told me what the Kremlin\u2019s red lines were.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bremmer says he has been writing his weekly newsletter for 24 years \u201cwithout fear or favour\u201d and that while he admires Musk as an entrepreneur, \u201che\u2019s not a geopolitics expert\u201d.<\/p>\n
Among the things Bremmer said Musk told him were that Putin was \u201cprepared to negotiate\u201d but only if Crimea \u2013 illegally annexed by the Kremlin in 2014 \u2013 remained part of Russia.<\/p>\n
There were also apparent demands for Ukraine to be neutral, and recognise the four eastern Ukraine territories annexed by Russia in September also as part of Russia.<\/p>\n
Bremmer said that Musk also revealed Putin had talked about the potential use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine and that he told the Russian leader \u201ceverything needed to be done to avoid that outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ni have been writing my weekly newsletter on geopolitics for 24 yrs.<\/p>\n
i write honestly without fear or favor and this week\u2019s update was no different.<\/p>\n
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) October 11, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n