NASA administrator says Musk-Putin contacts 'concerning' as Kremlin denies WSJ report

NASA administrator says Musk-Putin contacts 'concerning' as Kremlin denies WSJ report

by Don Jacobson

Washington DC (UPI) October 26, 2024

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said reported secret conversations between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin are “concerning” and, if true, should be investigated. an investigation.

Speaking Friday at an event hosted by online news site Semafor, Nelson was asked about this week's article in the Wall Street Journal, which reported that Musk and Putin had secret conversations about personal, political and commercial issues since 2022, even as Russia did so. continuing its brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

As leader of SpaceX, Musk is a major business partner of NASA.

“[SpaceX] have been phenomenally successful,” Nelson said Friday. “I don't know if that story is true. I think this should be investigated. While it is true that there have been several conversations with Elon Musk and the Russian president, this would be concerning, especially for NASA and the Department of Defense. »

As of Saturday, Musk had not publicly responded to the report.

SpaceX's critical role as a NASA partner was demonstrated just this week with the completion of the Crew-8 mission, during which a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was used to perform a rotation mission crew at the International Space Station.

The Journal, citing “several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials,” reported that one of the alleged conversations between Musk and Putin concerned SpaceX's Starlink satellite Internet access system. The sources claimed that Putin pressured Musk to refuse Starlink's military service, StarShield, in Taiwan as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping, a key Kremlin ally.

The report provides context for a controversy that arose in February, when members of the House China Committee demanded that Musk allow U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan access to StarShield after discovering it was unavailable on the island.

The committee suggested the situation could violate SpaceX's contract with the Pentagon, but the company denied any violation of its obligations.

The WSJ report raised new questions about the tech billionaire's power and influence over space, social media and the U.S. political arena. In addition to his role as CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Musk owns the social media platform X and has become a key megadonor to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

StarLink has become a critical communications tool in Ukraine's war effort against invading Russian forces, but in recent months, Musk's social media posts have indicated that his views on the conflict are closer to those of Trump, whose running mate, Senator JD Vance, has suggested that the negotiations will take place while Russia's illegally seized territorial gains are still in place.

In 2022, Musk also asked X users to answer a poll question about a “Ukraine-Russia peace” plan that included holding new elections in the country's eastern regions annexed by Moscow.

Kremlin denies reports of secret Musk-Putin talks
Moscow (AFP) October 25, 2024 – The Kremlin on Friday denied information from the Wall Street Journal according to which Russian President Vladimir Putin and the founder of billionaire SpaceX, Elon Musk, have been in regular secret contact since 2022.

“All the information published in the newspaper is false, absolutely false,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The WSJ report claims that Putin discussed personal and political matters with the world's richest man, who supported Donald Trump's election campaign with donations and messages on his X platform.

The report alleges that Putin asked Musk to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan, as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Peskov said Putin “had contact with Musk before 2022,” when “they spoke on the phone.”

“It was an informational conversation. They talked about more visionary technology, technology for the future,” he said.

“It was a phone call of average length. It was the only contact.”

“After that, there was no contact between Putin and Musk. All claims about this are false,” he added.

Peskov said the U.S. report was “most likely another false story during a U.S. election campaign that is being taken to the extreme.”

“The race is close to the finish line. Opponents will stoop at all costs,” he said.

“A week ago they were saying that Putin talks with Trump all day, now he will talk with Musk,” Peskov said, referring to a book by an American journalist published this month.

Written by Bob Woodward, the book “War” claimed that Trump secretly sent Covid test kits to Putin and spoke repeatedly with the Russian leader after leaving office.

Peskov confirmed that Trump sent Covid tests to Putin, but denied any calls between them after Trump left office.

Related links

Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com