A brand new report that billionaire Elon Musk held secret conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin may elevate safety issues attributable to his top-secret clearance and the usage of Starlink satellites in different nations.
What Occurred: Among the many conversations Musk had with Putin in recent times embrace asking for Starlink to be restricted over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese language President Xi Jinping, a brand new report alleges. The report provides to the accusations of Musk being a Putin apologist, which he has denied.
The Wall Avenue Journal studies that Musk has been in touch with Putin since 2022, and matters reminiscent of enterprise and geopolitical issues have been mentioned.
Discussions of the best way to deal with Starlink by Putin are drawing concern from the individuals who spoke to The Journal, given Musk’s additional clearance because of authorities contracts.
SpaceX has offers in place with the Pentagon and NASA that give Musk top-secret safety clearance over sure issues, together with the U.S. area program.
“I do have a top-secret clearance, however, I might must say, like many of the stuff that I am conscious of… the rationale they hold it high secret is as a result of it is so boring,” Musk stated in a latest speech in Pennsylvania whereas campaigning for Donald Trump, the report stated.
An individual instructed WSJ that the federal government’s dependence on SpaceX and know-how managed by Musk may create a dilemma.
SpaceX presently launches nationwide safety satellites into orbit and is contracted by NASA to take astronauts to and from the Worldwide Area Station.
The Pentagon declined to reveal the extent of Musk’s safety clearance.
“We don’t touch upon any particular person’s safety clearance, overview or standing, or about personnel safety coverage issues within the context of studies about any particular person’s actions,” a Pentagon spokesperson instructed The Wall Avenue Journal.
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Why It is Vital: The newest WSJ report is the newest to recommend Musk has been in touch with Putin, although each the billionaire and Russian officers often deny these claims.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Musk and Putin have solely mentioned area and “present and future applied sciences.”
Musk admitted to talking to Putin in April 2021, speaking to the Russian chief about area, however has denied communications since then.
The billionaire helped help Ukraine with Starlink terminals to make use of after the nation was attacked by Russia. Ukraine later accused Musk of turning off Starlink know-how close to the Crimea area. Musk later stated he did in order he believed an assault by Ukraine on the Crimea area occupied by Russia may result in a nuclear struggle.
Putin has spoken positively about Musk in recent times, calling the billionaire “a wise particular person” throughout an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired on Musk-owned social media platform X.
“There isn’t any stopping Elon Musk, he will do what he thinks he must do,” Putin stated. “You should discover some widespread floor with him, you’ll want to seek for some methods to influence him.”
Musk has stated he has no enterprise pursuits in Russia, with SpaceX and Tesla not concerned within the nation.
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