MOSCOW (Reuters) – An invitation from Tesla boss Elon Musk to Russian President Vladimir Putin to chat with him on a social networking app? “Very interesting,” said the Kremlin on Monday.
Musk tagged the Kremlin’s Twitter account on Sunday, tweeting, “Would you like (to) join me for a conversation at the Clubhouse?”
“It would be a great honor to speak with you,” added Musk, the richest man in the world, in a subsequent tweet in Russian.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call: “In general, this is a very interesting proposal, but we need to understand what is meant, what is being proposed … first we need to check, then we will react. “
Clubhouse, a San Francisco-based app that launched last year, requires newcomers to be invited by existing users before they can enter. Offers a selection of audio chat rooms divided by topic.
Putin, a former KGB official who once described the Internet as a CIA project, has long considered himself a suspect in modern technology.
“We want to find out first. President Putin does not personally use social media directly, he does not have it, ”said Peskov.
Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; written by Tom Balmforth; edition by Andrew Osborn