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KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to American President-elect Donald Trump earlier this week after the U.S. election results came in.
In a surprising development, they were joined on the line by tech billionaire Elon Musk, signaling the tycoon’s potential foreign policy influence in a new Trump administration.
“Yes, at some point Trump passed the phone to Musk. No, nothing unusual, they had a normal conversation,” a Ukrainian official close to Zelenskyy told POLITICO. “President [Zelenskyy] just thanked Musk for Starlinks,” he added, referring to Musk’s satellite internet system.
Musk’s involvement in the conversation, which took place as Russia maintains its all-out assault on Ukraine, was first reported by Axios on Friday.
While a recent Wall Street Journal report stated that Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has publicly opposed aid to Ukraine while spreading pro-Kremlin narratives about Ukraine on X, Starlink terminals have been vital for the communication of Ukraine’s army and its civilian population during blackouts caused by Moscow’s attacks on energy infrastructure.
Trump — who has frequently expressed opposition to American military aid for Kyiv and is a longtime NATO skeptic — said he will support Ukraine but did not go into details, Axios reported, citing its sources.
Zelenskyy felt the fact that the call came so soon after Trump was declared the winner of the Nov. 5 presidential election was a positive sign, Axios reported. The two men met in the city of New York earlier in the fall during the election campaign.
“I praised family and team for the great work. We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation. Strong and unwavering U.S. leadership is vital for the world and for a just peace,” Zelenskyy said after the call in a statement.
Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said it had been an “excellent” call, and that the Ukrainian team remained in close contact with Trump’s entourage.
Neither SpaceX nor X responded to requests to confirm that Musk was on the call.
This story has been updated.
Steven Overly contributed to this report.
