US billionaire Elon Musk held secret talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout the war in Ukraine as his initial support for Kyiv appeared to shift in Moscow’s favor, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday, citing several anonymous current and ex-US, European and Russian officials.

The private conversations reportedly addressed personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions, and took place between October 2022—when he proposed a controversial peace deal—and “into this year”.