Russia Offers Political Asylum to Elon Musk Following Dispute with Trump

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Russian lawmaker, Dmitry Novikov, hinted that billionaire Elon Musk could seek political asylum in Russia amid growing tensions between Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Based on the Russian news agency report, TASS, Novikov, who also serves as the first deputy chairperson of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, made the statement following the escalating accusations between Elon Musk and Trump.

"I think that Musk has a completely different game, that he will not need any political asylum, although, if he did, Russia, of course, could provide it," Novikov said in response to questions about whether Russia is ready to give asylum to Musk, as previously obtained by former U.S. contractor Edward Snowden.

Novikov noted that over the years, Elon Musk has established "a kind of political communication" so that "individual disagreements will remain separate disagreements."

"At this stage, the return of the Democratic team to the White House in three years is not what I think Musk needs and not what he is ready to applaud. Therefore, there are tactical differences, and there are strategic things, and he will adhere to them, it seems to me," he said.

Novikov made this comment after Steve Bannon, a former White House chief strategist, called Musk an "illegal alien" who should be deported from the United States. Bannon also urged the U.S. government to confiscate the billionaire's technology company, SpaceX. Bannon is one of Elon Musk's most vocal critics.

"They [US government] should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately," he said, as quoted by NDTV.

Bannon's statement came after Musk threatened to close the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Bannon argued that this could pose a serious threat to the country, so he believed Trump should sign an order based on the Defense Production Act to take over SpaceX immediately.

According to the Moscow Times, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the dispute when asked last Friday.

"This is a domestic issue of the United States, and we don't intend to interfere," Peskov told reporters. "We're confident the U.S. president will handle this situation on his own."

Prior to this, Russia had granted asylum to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and pro-Kremlin British blogger Graham Phillips.

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