Swept up geopolitical events threatening to change the global landscape, 68-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed an offer from the world’s richest man 49-year-old Elon Musk to chat on voice-only Clubhouse social media platform. Putin, who’s lead Russia the last 20 years, has been buffeted by political uprisings over the arrest and jailing Feb. 2 of 44-year-old Russian dissident Alexi Navalny. Navalny’s been a thorn in Putin’s side for years, claiming he’s an anti-corruption activist but actually aspires to topple Putin’s regime. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, 78-year-old President Joe Biden has tried to stand up to Putn, followed the European Union [EU] demanding that he immediately release Navalny from a Russian prison. When the EU threatened new sanctions against Moscow, Putin threatened to break off ties with the EU, something that throws world stability into chaos.
Seizing on the opportunity to inject some sanity into the world affairs, Musk, who’s grown more statesman-like by the day, welcomed Putin to join him for a friendly chat on Clubhouse. “This is certainly a very interesting proposal,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Musk has recently enjoyed using Clubhouse to open up dialogues with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer, currently owner of NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. “It would be a great honor to speak with you,” Musk tweeted, inviting Putin to join the friendly chat. Peskov didn’t accept Musk’s invitation but was intrigued by the prospect of chatting with the world’s most powerful leaders. No one on the world stage today has the clout and longevity of Putin. Musk tried to that madness of the U.S. and EU threatening to apply new sanctions on the Russian Federation.
Musk’s invitation to Putin puts the brakes on recent saber rattling from Washington and Brussels, threatening sanctions on Moscow if Putin continues to keep dissident Alexi Navalny in prison. Putin advised Washington and Brussels that he won’t have both countries meddle in Russia’s internal affairs. Marketed in the West as a pro-Democracy hero, Navalny is anything but, seeking to topple Putin’s government at the at the earliest possible time. Musk just finished provocative conversations with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and hip-hop music icon Kanye West who’s married to billionaire self-promoter fashionista Kim Kardashian. “Would you like to join me for a conversation on Clubhouse?” Musk asked Putin. “It would be a great honor to speak with you,” Musk tweeted Putin. Musk’s invitation runs counter to the belligerent treatment Putin’s received in Washington and Brussels.
Musk didn’t like what he’s seeing with Putin telling his 70-year-old Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Moscow will break off diplomatic relations with the EU if it moves ahead with new economic and travel sanctions. “We first want to figure it out. You know that President Putin does not directly use social networks,” Peskov told reporters on Interfax. What’s appealing to the Kremlin is to shift attention away from Navalny and back to pressing world events. Washington and Brussels got carried away with threats, making no sense for either country. Biden can ill-afford to alienate Putin when it comes to global relations, something the U.S. and EU need to deal with external threats from North Korea and Iran. Trump managed to create amicable relations with Moscow, only to watch Democrats and the U.S. press sabotage any of attempt to improve relations with Moscow.
Inviting Putin to chat on Clubhouse was a perfect way for Musk to break the ice with so much tension coming toward Putin from U.S. and EU. Whether the U.S. or EU admits it, Putin’s been the most influential world leader over the last 20 years, injecting the Russian Federation into some controversial geopolitical events, especially the Aug. 1, 2008 invasion of Georgia’s South Ossetia and Abkhazia and March 1, 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. In both cases, Putin was condemned by Washington and Brussels, both sat idly by while Georgia and Ukraine lost sovereign territory. Biden’s recent statements that he wouldn’t “roll over” for Putin was a slap on Trump who, in his for years in office, tried to improve U.S.-Russian relations. Biden’s done everything so far to turn back the clock to the Obama days, when U.S.-Russian relations hit a Cold War lows after expelling 35 Russian diplomats.
Ratcheting up global tensions by threatening sanctions against the Russian Federation, Washington and Brussels needed some help from the world’s richest man. Musk proved through his technology companies Tesla Motors Inc. and SpaceX that he’s a world leader in global innovation. Musk has become a global citizen trying to beat back climate change with zero emission vehicles and affordable space travel working toward colonizing Mars and parts beyond in the near future. There’s not one world leader that doesn’t admire what Musk has done for humanity around the globe. Extending an invitation to Putin eclipses the bad will from Washington and Brussels threatening to set the world back into another Cold War. Keeping doors of communication open, Musk knows that the world needs to spread peace through innovation and economic progress.
