- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to appear on Lex Fridman’s podcast.
- Fridman is a computer scientist and academic who has attracted high-profile guests, including Trump.
- Elon Musk touted X’s role in arranging the deal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed on X to record an episode of Lex Fridman’s podcast in Ukraine, much to Elon Musk’s delight.
Fridman, who hosts the popular “Lex Fridman Podcast,” said on X earlier this week that he would “love to do a 3 hour podcast” with Zelenskyy, adding that he would even travel to Kyiv to do it.
Zelenskyy responded on Saturday, writing: “Agreed. See you in Ukraine.”
One X user was quick to point out the role the platform played in arranging the deal, saying: “The power of X on full display,” to which Musk replied, “True.”
“Where else can you just make a request and a leader of a country replies to you directly?” the user added.
Musk has long touted his social media platform as a means of bypassing legacy media outlets and allowing world and company leaders to “speak directly to the people.”
President Joe Biden used X to announce his withdrawal from the US presidential race in July, while President-elect Donald Trump has used the site — along with his own platform, Truth Social — to announce his cabinet picks ahead of his inauguration.
Zelenskyy himself is a big social media user, sharing updates on the Russia-Ukraine war and details of meetings with other world leaders on X and Telegram.
Over the last few years, Fridman has gone from a little-known academic researcher to a social media celebrity, winning audiences with some of the world’s leading figures, including Trump, Musk, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
His offer to Zelenskyy came after fellow podcaster Joe Rogan, who recorded a three-hour episode with Trump ahead of the US election, said the Ukrainian president had also offered to appear on his show.
“Zelenskyy tried to come on,” Rogan said, adding somewhat skeptically: “They tried to get Zelenskyy on, I was like, ‘What are you talking about?'”
Rogan recently criticized Zelenskyy and Biden over the latter’s decision to allow Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range weapons in Russia, saying they were “about to start World War III.”
AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
In an interview with Sky News published on Friday, Zelenskyy suggested that the “hot phase” of the Russia-Ukraine war could end if unoccupied parts of Ukraine came “under the NATO umbrella.”
“That’s what we need to do fast. And then Ukraine can get back the other part of its territory diplomatically,” he said, stressing that NATO membership would need to be offered to Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.
Zelenskyy has previously rejected the idea of ceding land to end the war.
