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A former adviser to Donald Trump said it’s “very clear” that Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk is transmitting a message for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What Happened: Fiona Hill made the comments in a Politico interview when asked about the role Musk is playing to promote peace settlements between Russia and Ukraine in their ongoing conflict.
“It’s very clear that Elon Musk is transmitting a message for Putin,” said Hill, adding that the billionaire entrepreneur offered a version of what he recently tweeted at a conference in Aspen in late September.
Hill said what makes Musk’s intervention “interesting” is that Putin uses prominent people as “intermediaries” to feel out the political environment.
“This is a classic Putin play. It’s just fascinating, of course, that it’s Elon Musk in this instance because obviously; Elon Musk has a huge Twitter following. He’s got a longstanding reputation in Russia through Tesla, the SpaceX space programs and also through Starlink,” she said.
See Also: How To Buy Electric Vehicle (EV) Stocks
Why It Matters: Musk has denied claims that he discussed Ukraine with Putin.
“Putin plays the egos of big men, gives them a sense that they can play a role. But in reality, they’re just direct transmitters of messages from Vladimir Putin,” Hill said.
Hill, who specializes in Russian and European affairs and is currently a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Putin is “basically short-circuiting the diplomatic process.”
“All of this is an effort to get Americans to take themselves out of the war and hand over Ukraine and Ukrainian territory to Russia.”
This month, Musk ran a Twitter poll about his thoughts related to the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.