Elon Musk and Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine got into a Twitter argument after the tech magnate offered a contentious idea to end Russia’s invasion.
The Tesla CEO stated in a tweet on Monday that in order to achieve peace, Russia should be allowed to maintain the Crimean Peninsula that it annexed in 2014. The Tesla CEO is about to face a legal battle over his attempt to withdraw a $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter. In response to Russia’s partial activation of reservists, he added that Ukraine should adopt a neutral stance and abandon its application to join NATO.
Musk also crossed a line for Ukraine and those who support it by advocating that the United Nations conduct new elections in the four regions that Russia is attempting to annexe after orchestrating phony “referendums” that were criticized by the West.
Musk pointed out that the Crimea was formerly a part of Russia before being transferred to Ukraine by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and predicted that a protracted conflict would not likely result in a decisive Ukrainian win.
Zelenskyy views Musk’s strategy as being pro-Russian
Zelenskyy thinks these ideas to be pro-Kremlin, which makes them abominable. The war’s spoils will all be recovered, and the Ukrainian president believes Crimea should be returned to Ukraine.
Musk also started a Twitter poll asking if captured territories should remain in Ukraine or join Russia based on “the decision of the people.”
Zelenskyy replied with sarcasm and created his own Twitter poll, asking, “Which Elon Musk do you appreciate more?” “One who supports Russia,” “One who supports Ukraine,” etc.
“I still very much support Ukraine,” Musk responded to Zelenskyy. “However, I am convinced that a big escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and maybe the world.”
The departing Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, replied to Musk’s initial tweet with an expletive.
“Russia has just partially mobilized. In the event that Crimea is in danger, they mobilize for war fully. It will be horrible if both sides die “Musk stated in a subsequent post. “Russia has (more than) three times the population of Ukraine, making a total war triumph for Ukraine implausible. Seek peace if you care about the Ukrainian people.”
Kremlin applauds Musk’s suggestion
The Kremlin itself responded, complimenting Musk’s idea but admonishing that Russia would not renege on its plans to annex parts of Ukraine.
Elon Musk’s efforts to find a peaceful resolution are “quite encouraging,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who made the statement on Tuesday. However, “as for the referendums, the people have spoken, and there could be nothing else.”
The hastily scheduled elections in four occupied districts, according to Ukraine and the West, were blatantly manipulated to support Putin’s agenda of trying to maintain his slipping hold on Ukrainian territory.
Despite criticism from Russian chess champion and anti-Putin political activist Garry Kasparov, Musk’s proposals on Twitter didn’t seem to receive any traction.
According to Kasparov’s tweet, “This is moral foolishness, repetition of Kremlin propaganda, a betrayal of Ukrainian bravery and sacrifice, and puts a few minutes perusing Crimea on Wikipedia over the current horrible reality of Putin’s brutal conflict.”
Musk helped Ukraine in the early stages of the invasion in early March by donating his SpaceX company’s Starlink satellite system, which aids in bringing internet access to places without coverage. Zelenskyy thanked Musk for the tools at the time, saying they would support keeping communications open in communities under attack.
However, Musk claimed in April that Starlink would not censor Russian official media outlets that disseminate propaganda and false information about the conflict in Ukraine because Starlink is a “free speech absolutist.”
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