Elon Musk angers Ukraine president with Russia tweets

Controversial tweeter and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, stirred a new dispute, this time with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Musk angered Zelensky, along with many top Ukrainian officials and the people of Ukraine, by proposing his solution for the Russian invasion.

The founder of Tesla and SpaceX posted on Twitter that Ukraine should take part in new referendums overseen by the United Nations to negotiate Russia’s declared annexation of Ukrainian land. He suggested that Ukraine should be given a neutral status and in exchange recognise Russia’s possession of the Crimean peninsula. Musk posted a poll inviting his 107 million Twitter followers to vote on his idea.

Predictably, Ukrainians were not impressed with Musk’s ideas. But it seemed neither were Musk’s followers. His poll showed, as of this article’s publication, over 60% of the 2.2 million people who voted were against his proposal. A follow-up poll, asking if the people who live in the occupied areas that Russia has attempted to annex should decide for themselves which country they should be a part of, garnered 60% yes votes.

Zelensky shot back at Musk’s polls by posting one of his own, asking the public if they prefer an Elon Musk that supports Ukraine or Russia. The poll has so far received over 1.8 million votes with the overwhelming majority of people asking Musk to support Ukraine. Just 19% were in favour of supporting Russia.

Zelensky said that as long as Vladimir Putin remains the leader of Russia, Ukraine will not be negotiating. Putin insisted that Ukraine stop their fighting and renegotiate the annexation he signed several days ago instead. He’s announced a mobilization of hundreds of thousands of Russians to be drafted into the war, prompting a mass exodus from the country.

Other Ukrainian officials responded to Elon Musk’s tweets with equal unmasked disdain. A presidential aide suggested his version to replace Musk’s peace plan. His idea was that Russian war criminals should face an international tribunal, while the country was denuclearised and demilitarised in the wake of their invasion. Meanwhile, his proposal was for Ukraine to take back all the territories Russia has annexed, including Crimea.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany also responded to Musk’s tweets suggesting a renegotiation annexation. His response to Musk was terse and unwavering.

“My very diplomatic response is to get lost.”

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