Elon Musk’s father praised President Putin as a “very stable and pleasant man” in an address at a forum in Moscow featuring a host of pro-Kremlin speakers.
Errol Musk, 79, spoke at the two-day Forum of the Future 2050 event, organised by a Russian ultranationalist organisation, also featuring speakers including former MP George Galloway and Alex Jones, the American radio host known for promoting conspiracy theories, the Times reported.
Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, also took part aand claimed Britain was providing assistance for Ukraine to carry out “terrorist attacks” inside Russia, the newspaper said.
He said the war in Ukraine was “a battle between good and evil” in which Moscow would emerge victorious, it reported.
The forum also included discussions such as “Russian Space: The Race for Mars” and “The Battle for Hearts and Minds: The Ideology of Sovereign Russia”.
It is being staged by the Tsargrad Institute, which is funded by Konstantin Malofeyev, a Russian oligarch who is a vocal supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Musk, a former businessman and politician, told Russian media at the event last week’s explosive public bust-up between his son and Donald Trump was triggered by stress on both sides.
He said his Space X boss son made a mistake by publicly challenging Trump.
Musk and Trump began exchanging insults last week on social media with Musk denouncing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination."
"You know they have been under a lot of stress for five months - you know - give them a break," Errol Musk told the Izvestia newspaper during a visit to the Russian capital.
"They are very tired and stressed so you can expect something like this."
"Trump will prevail - he's the president, he was elected as the president. So, you know, Elon made a mistake, I think. But he is tired, he is stressed."
Errol Musk also suggested that the row "was just a small thing" and would "be over tomorrow."
Trump said on Saturday his relationship with billionaire donor Musk was over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk decided to fund U.S Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the tax and spending bill.
As the row escalated, Russia offered political asylum to Elon.
Musk, the world's richest man, bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending.
