Elon Musk complimented a top Putin official for trolling Liz Truss, and got invited to Moscow

• Elon Musk praised a Putin ally for trolling the UK's prime minister over her resignation.
• He also brought up a region in Ukraine where Russia is successfully pinning down its enemies.

Elon Musk, the Tesla founder, complimented one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies for tweets mocking the political turmoil in the UK.

Musk has stirred controversy in recent weeks for promoting Russian talking points about the war in Ukraine, and has denied reports he has secretly been in communication with Putin.

On Thursday, Dmitry Medvedev trolled UK Prime Minister Liz Truss for resigning after only 44 days in office, and alluded to a running joke in UK tabloid The Daily Star about whether she'd last longer than a lettuce.

"Bye, bye @trussliz, congrats to lettuce," tweeted Medvedev.

"Pretty good troll tbh," Musk responded.

"Btw, how's it going in Bakhmut?" he said, referring to intense recent fighting in the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where Russians have made steady gains as they attempt to seize control of the city.

"See you in Moscow on the Victory Day!" replied Medvedev.

Musk was criticised for the jokey interaction with Medvedev, who has previously served as prime minister and president of Russia, and now leads its security council.

He has been an aggressive champion of the Russian invasion and has pushed genocidal rhetoric about Ukraine.

Musk, the world's richest man, has recently made a series of outspoken pronouncements on the Ukraine war and tensions between Taiwan and China.

In a tweet on October 3 he laid a series of conditions for peace talks in Ukraine, which were rejected by Ukraine and which critics said were reheated Russian propaganda. The tweet was praised by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Ian Bremmer, a political scientist, claimed Musk told him he spoke to Putin before sending the tweet. Fiona Hill, a former White House Russia expert, said Putin was likely manipulating Musk. Musk and the Kremlin denied having spoken.

Musk has been lauded in Ukraine for providing the Starlink satellite internet system, which has allowed large parts of the country to remain connected despite the war.

But, according to CNN, Musk was trying to get the US government to foot the bill for the system, with The New York Times having previously reported that the US, UK, and Poland were already paying for large parts of the system to remain operational in Ukraine.

"What the hell…we'll just keep funding it for free," Musk tweeted amid controversy over over the report.