WASHINGTON – The tech mogul Elon Musk joined the elected presidency for a short time Donald TrumpAccording to a source familiar with the matter, he had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday.
Musk, who has been campaigning for Trump in the final weeks of the 2024 race, was not scheduled to be on the call, but entered the room and greeted Zelensky, the source said. According to him, he was not part of the substantive conversation between the two leaders.
Neither Zelensky nor Trump had previously disclosed that Musk was on the call. Axios reported first his participation is confirmed by other speeches.
Trump transition team officials declined requests for comment Friday. Neither Musk nor the Ukrainian embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy called his talks with Trump “excellent”.
“We agreed to continue the close dialogue and develop our cooperation” Zelensky continued “Strong and steadfast U.S. leadership is vital to world and just peace,” X wrote.
There is Trump before he claimed he said he could “solve” the war in a day and that if elected president, “I’ll solve it before I’m president.” He didn’t plan on it.
During Trump’s one-on-one debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine, a US ally, to win the war.
“I think it’s in the best interest of the United States to end this war and just end it,” he said. “Negotiate a contract.”
There is JD Vance, who was elected vice president also suggested Ukraine should be ready to give up part of its territory to stop the war.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Musk also had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The talks were first reported The Wall Street Journal.
Near the start of the war, after Russia was invaded, Musk helped provide Internet support to Ukraine. Emergency Starlink receivers played a key role in helping Ukrainians communicate. Starlink systems is a service that is part of SpaceX, owned by Musk.
But he also angered Ukrainians for suggesting that the country cede part of its territory to Russia. In October 2022, he offered that Ukraine gives Crimea to Russia as part of a possible peace deal, drawing condemnation from Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials.
Rebecca Shabad, Anastasia Parafeniuk, Jake Traylor, David Ingram and Andrea Mitchell contributed.