Russian leader Vladimir Putin once asked Elon Musk to withhold Starlink access from Taiwan as a favor to China's Xi Jinping, The Wall Street Journal r

Putin once asked Elon Musk to not activate Starlink over Taiwan as a favor to Xi Jinping: report

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2024-10-25 20:30:07

Russian leader Vladimir Putin once asked Elon Musk to withhold Starlink access from Taiwan as a favor to China's Xi Jinping, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The outlet cited several unnamed current and former government officials in the US, Europe, and Russia, who said Musk had kept in regular contact with Putin since late 2022.

The allegations present awkward implications for the US, with Musk's SpaceX holding defense and space contracts with the Pentagon and NASA. An analysis published on Monday by The New York Times reported that the company has $3.6 billion in contracts with the Defense Department — primarily for launching American satellites into orbit — and $11.8 billion with NASA.

The Journal reported that in late 2023, Musk received his first request from the Kremlin to refrain from activating Starlink over Taiwan. The outlet cited a former Russian intelligence officer, whom it did not name.

The Chinese embassy in Washington told The Journal that it was not aware of the specifics of this arrangement, and did not respond to a separate request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.