Elon Musk Reportedly Spoke With Vladimir Putin Before Sending Out Pro-Russia Tweets

After tweeting a proposal to the end of the Russia-Ukraine war that would have Russia gaining territory it invaded from Ukraine, billionaire Elon Musk was revealed on Tuesday to have spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin before sending out the tweets.

A Eurasia Group mailout alleged that Musk had spoken with Putin before tweeting out his plan, with the Russian leader reportedly saying that he was “prepared to negotiate” only if Crimea remained in Russia and Ukraine recognized the annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, according to Vice.

Musk was also reportedly told that a nuclear strike in Ukraine was in the cards for Putin if he did not get what he wanted, to which Musk reportedly said that “everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome.”

Last week, Musk released a series of proposals on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war that matches up closely with what was revealed by the Eurasia Group report as a Putin-approved statement, pushing the belief that Ukrainians would be willing to go under Russian rule, CNBC reported.

The proposal was met with a negative reception online and with most Western leaders, though the Kremlin was onboard with the proposals. Many, including ex-chess champion Garry Kasparov, called his proposal “repetition of Kremlin propaganda.”

“F**k off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” Ukrainian diplomat for Germany Andrij Melnyk said.

After the release of the proposal, reports that the Starlink internet terminals used to keep Ukraine online during the war was failing on the armed forces of Ukraine as they continue closer to occupied Crimea and formerly-occupied Ukrainian territories was voiced by many Ukrainian officials, Independent reported.

“Ukrainian officials told me Musk turned down request to use Starlink over Crimea. They would not tell me for what purpose,” journalist Oliver Carroll said. “Ukrainians started experiencing problems w Starlink shortly before Musk’s strange Twitter foray.”

Musk has denied speaking to Putin since the Russia-Ukraine war began, saying in a tweet: “No, it is not. I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.”