Tesla CEO Elon Musk drew backlash from Ukrainian officials, including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his Tweets advising on how to bring about “peace” amid the ongoing war between Moscow and Kyiv.
Musk through its official Twitter handle tried out a Twitter poll to end the Russian actions in Ukraine.
Tesla’s CEO floated a number of ideas to solve the conflict, asking his followers to vote “yes” or “no” on his proposals, which included formally allowing Russia to annex Crimea.
Musk, who is also chief executive of SpaceX, said: “Russia is doing partial mobilization. They go to full war mobilization if Crimea is at risk. Death on both sides will be devastating. Russia has >3 times population of Ukraine, so victory for Ukraine is unlikely in total war. If you care about the people of Ukraine, seek peace.”
Irked over the billionaire’s comments, Ukrainian former Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk lashed out at Musk.
“Fuck off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” Melnyk said in a Tweet. “The only outcome that now no Ukrainian will EVER buy your f…ing tesla crap. So good luck to you,” he said in another tweet.
While Zelenskyy tweeted offering two responses: one who supports Ukraine, one who supports Russia: “Which @elonmusk do you like more?,”
Russian President Vladimir Putin last week formally announced the annexation of four regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and claimed that “this is the will of millions of people.”
On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics requested help in defending themselves. What followed the military operation was a slew of sanctions imposed by the western countries targeting the Russian economy.