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CNN Business
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On Monday, Elon Musk faced a backlash from Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, for unsoliciting the situation amid Russia’s ongoing incursion into the country Suggestions on how to achieve “peace” below.
In a Twitter poll, Musk proposed a path to “Ukrainian-Russian peace” that would include re-elections “under UN supervision” in parts of the country that were recently illegally annexed by Russia. The land grab covers nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s land after the referendum was widely seen as a “hoax” by much of the world.
The billionaire Tesla CEO also suggested that Crimea, which Russia invaded and annexed from Ukraine in 2014, “officially become part of Russia.” He added: “guaranteed water supply to Crimea” and “Ukrainian neutrality”.
Ukraine and most of the world are opposed to any influence by Russia over the territories it has invaded, and Ukraine has vowed to reclaim its land.
“It started in Crimea and will end in Crimea, which will effectively restore the international legal order,” Zelensky said at the Crimea Platform Summit in August. Zelensky has been adamant Ukraine will not cede any of its territory to Russia, it said.
The majority of respondents on Twitter voted “No” to respond Musk polls.in follow-up tweetMusk appeared to blame “robot attacks” for the results.
Musk himself and one of his companies, SpaceX, got involved early in the war in Ukraine after SpaceX sent the Starlink internet terminal to the war-torn country, which could operate anywhere there’s electricity and a clear view.
But his latest idea has not been welcomed by Ukrainian officials after the months-long war left untold devastation in the region.
Andrij Melnyk, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany respond to Musk’s Twitter post.
Zelensky started his own twitter pollasking his followers, “Which @elonmusk do you prefer?” Options: “Pro-Ukraine” and “Pro-Russia” (The former had more than 80 percent of the vote as of Monday afternoon.)
Ukrainian news agency Kyiv Post also Reply Musk’s polls mention his South African birthplace. “Elon, you are a cool guy, thank you Starlink, but it would be great if you were going to vote on what you know. We don’t vote on apartheid and Nelson Mandela,” the publication wrote road.
On the other hand, Russian officials welcomed Musk’s tweet. Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and former President and Prime Minister of Russia, tweet Musk was “full of praise” and predicted Musk’s next tweet would say “Ukraine is a man-made country.”
Musk went on to defend his initial Twitter post, appearing to suggest there was little chance of victory for Ukraine, which recently began rapidly reclaiming territory in its northeastern part of the country, including the strategically important transportation hub Lehmann.
Musk’s foreign policy comments came a day after Tesla announced lower-than-expected third-quarter delivery and production figures, days after the car company unveiled an impressive humanoid robot. Meanwhile, his legal battle with Twitter has heated up over his attempt to back out of his proposed $44 billion takeover of the company.