Putin calls Musk a “brilliant person” at Russia–Africa summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin called American billionaire and SpaceX head Elon Musk a “brilliant person.”

He said this at the Russia–Africa summit.

According to Putin, Moscow maintains close contacts with Washington on space issues despite political disagreements. The Kremlin chief also said that Russia is proud to have begun creating an analogue of Starlink. He noted that the “Rassvet” project is still at an initial stage.

“Elon Musk is a brilliant person, truly brilliant. How many of those spacecraft does he have in orbit? More than five thousand. And we are only taking the first steps. But we are proud that we have started doing this and started doing it independently. We are in close contact with our American partners, in particular with Mr. Musk, because in orbit it is very important not to interfere with each other, to observe a certain discipline and order. Both we and our American partners, we mutually value this, and together with them, despite all political issues, we cooperate closely — both our Roscosmos and other companies,” Putin said.

Putin noted that Musk has more than five thousand spacecraft in orbit, whereas Russia, according to him, “is only taking the first steps.” At the same time, he stressed that Moscow is proud to have started doing this independently.

Putin’s flattering remarks about Elon Musk came amid the deterioration of relations between the latter and Kyiv. Musk has said he fears Russian strikes on Starlink satellites.