PUTIN allegedly told billionaire Elon Musk he would launch a nuclear strike if Ukraine tried to retake Crimea, a bombshell report claims.

The Russian tyrant is said to have told the tech mogul he was “prepared to negotiate” if Crimea remained in Russian hands and Ukraine “accepts a formal status of neutrality”.

AP

Vladimir Putin allegedly spoke to Elon Musk about the war[/caption]

Reuters

Elon Musk has denied he spoke to the Russian president[/caption]

The alleged call between the pair was revealed in an email sent to consulting firm Eurasia Group subscribers by the company’s founder Ian Bremmer.

Bremmer claimed Musk, 51, had told him about a recent chat with Putin where the Russian leader raised the possibility of a nuclear attack.

Musk denied the report, saying on Twitter: “I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.”

He added the call would be “pointless, as there is currently no overlap between Russian and Ukrainian demands – it’s not even close”.

But Bremmer said the tech billionaire spoke directly to Putin before he tweeted a “peace plan” calling for UN-supervised elections in four Ukrainian regions Moscow has annexed, Vice reports.

In the string of tweets last week, Musk suggested Crimea – annexed by Moscow in 2014 – should be formally recognised as Russia, water supply to Crimea be guaranteed and Ukraine remain neutral.

Musk – the world’s wealthiest man – then asked Twitter users to vote “yes” or “no” on the plan.

During the alleged conversation, the Russian president is said to have told Musk that a nuke attack was on the table if Ukraine refused to recognise Moscow’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Musk reportedly told Putin that “everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome”.

Bremmer said the Tesla and SpaceX CEO told him that Putin would accomplish his goals “no matter what”.

Commenting on the reports, John Kirby, White House National Security Council spokesman, said: “Obviously, he’s not representing the United States government in those conversations.”

Musk’s tweets on the Ukraine war were welcomed by the Kremlin.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation”.

But Ukraine’s Vlodomyr Zelensky lashed out at the billionaire and shared his own poll about what people thought of Musk’s views. 

Musk said he’s still pro-Ukraine – but just trying to avoid nuclear war.

He said SpaceX has spent $80 million on Starlink satellite internet in Ukraine to boost the country’s internet access while spending “$0” in Russia.

“Obviously, we are pro Ukraine,” he said.

“Trying to retake Crimea will cause massive death, probably fail & risk nuclear war. This would be terrible for Ukraine & Earth.”

The Sun has contacted Eurasia Group and Bremmer for comment.