Elon Musk denies he spoke with Putin before floating widely panned Ukraine 'peace' plan: report

An explosive new report claims that Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin before he floated a "peace plan" for Ukraine that was widely panned by critics as a gift to Russia.

Vice News reports that newsletter from Ian Bremmer, a foreign policy expert and the founder of the Eurasia Group global risk consultancy firm, is claiming that Musk said that Putin is now "prepared to negotiate" a peace settlement but only if Ukraine accepted Russia's annexations of its territories in the eastern part of the country.

Putin emphasized to Musk that Russia's annexation of this Ukrainian territory, as well as an agreement in which Ukraine would maintain neutrality and not join NATO, would be accomplished "no matter what," and he even emphasized that his nation was prepared to launch a nuclear strike should Ukrainian forces attempt to retake Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Bremmer also claims that Musk personally told him that "everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome," and that was why he publicly floated his plan.

IN OTHER NEWS: Now Trump is openly challenging the feds to indict him

But Musk's plan has not been well received in Kyiv, with many officials saying it would amount to capitulation to Russia.

"The only outcome is that now no Ukrainian will EVER buy your f...ing tesla crap. So good luck to you," Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk wrote to Musk on Twitter. "F*ck off is my very diplomatic reply to you."

Musk has denied Bremmer's claims, however, and he wrote on Twitter that "I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space."

NOW WATCH: ‘Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed’: VP Kamala Harris urges state pardons

‘Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed’ VP Kamala Harris urges state pardonswww.youtube.com