Musk participated in Zelensky's call with Trump after his victory

Photo: Alex Brandon Associated Press Musk has held a series of campaign rallies in support of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.

Agence France-Presse in kyiv

Published and updated on November 8

• United States

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, took part in a phone call Wednesday between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump after the latter's victory in the US presidential election, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Friday.

“I can confirm that,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, when asked about a report by US media outlet Axios.

Another senior Ukrainian source told AFP that Donald Trump had “passed the phone” to Elon Musk, who was physically present at his side, who then “briefly” spoke with Mr Zelensky.

“Trump passed him the phone, they were together somewhere. The [Ukrainian] president thanked him for Starlink [the satellite link service that Elon Musk provided to Ukraine, editor's note],” the source said.

“They spoke briefly. But the main conversation was of course with Trump,” she added.

“Close dialogue”

According to the same source, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky “did not really discuss anything substantial, it was a greeting conversation.”

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The Ukrainian president had described the telephone conversation as “excellent” and had “agreed to maintain a close dialogue” with Mr. Trump.

Two anonymous sources told the American media outlet Axios that President Zelensky had been reassured by the discussion with Mr. Trump, which lasted about twenty minutes. minutes.

On the call, Musk also said, according to Axios, that he would continue to support kyiv with its Starlink satellite service.

Asked by AFP on Friday, before kyiv confirmed this telephone conversation, Donald Trump's team had refused to confirm the Tesla boss's participation in it, saying they did not want to comment on “private conversations”.

kyiv's fears

Elon Musk's presence illustrates his close ties with the winner of the American presidential election.

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This businessman played an unprecedented role in Donald Trump’s campaign, spending more than $110 million to get him elected.

He also held a series of campaign rallies in support of the Republican’s candidacy in the key and highly contested state of Pennsylvania.

Elon Musk is expected to join Donald Trump’s future administration, but the precise contours of his role have not been revealed.

Highly critical of the billions of dollars released for Ukraine, the president-elect promised to end this war before even taking the oath of office — without ever explaining how.

kyiv is concerned that Donald Trump will reduce or even stop the vital military and economic support the United States has provided to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

On Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea of ​​discussing a ceasefire with Russia or making any “concessions” to it, after Moscow warned the West to negotiate or risk “the destruction of the Ukrainian population.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have separately said they are ready to talk to each other.