Russian President Reportedly Asked Elon Musk To Restrict Starlink Services Over Taiwan As A Favor To Xi Jinping

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a pivotal figure in U.S. space exploration, has reportedly been in regular communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022,

What Happened: Wall Street Journal reported. These discussions have spanned personal, business, and geopolitical topics.

In one notable exchange, Putin asked Musk to restrict his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan, as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

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A former Russian intelligence officer indicated that the Kremlin initially made this request to Musk late last year to support China, a country Russia increasingly relies on for trade and to evade sanctions. A representative from the Chinese embassy in Washington stated they were unaware of the details and could not comment.

Currently, Starlink has not been authorized to operate in Taiwan, which imposes restrictions on foreign satellite providers. Taiwan is listed as “coming soon” on Starlink’s service map.

Why It Matters: Musk’s involvement in geopolitical issues is not new. In October 2022, he suggested that China and Taiwan should “figure out a special administrative zone” to resolve tensions. This proposal came after Musk’s previous comments on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, where he offered support to Ukraine through Starlink satellites from SpaceX.

In September, Musk expressed concerns on X about the risk of a global conflict if Ukraine were allowed to strike deep into Russia. He responded to a claim about a potential escalation involving the U.S. and Russia, highlighting the severe consequences of NATO using long-range weapons against Russia.

In July, Musk clarified that he has “literally zero” business interests in Russia. He stated that neither his electric vehicle company, Tesla Inc. , nor his rocket manufacturing company, SpaceX, has any operations in Russia. Musk emphasized that SpaceX competes with Russia for space launches and that Starlink is a crucial asset for Ukraine.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari