Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, had a direct conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin before tweeting a plan to resolve the continuing conflict in Ukraine, according to a report by VICE News.
Last week, the richest man in the world received criticism from Ukrainian politicians, including Volodymyr Zelensky, for his tweets offering advice on how to achieve “peace” in the midst of the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.
Elon Musk tried out a Twitter poll to stop Russia’s actions in Ukraine through his official Twitter account. The CEO of Tesla proposed a number of solutions to the issue, asking his supporters to support or reject them. One of his options was to legally recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
“In a mailout sent to Eurasia Group subscribers, Ian Bremmer wrote that Tesla CEO Musk told him that Putin was ‘prepared to negotiate,’ but only if Crimea remained Russian if Ukraine accepted a form of permanent neutrality, and Ukraine recognised Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia,” the Vice report said.
Bremmer reported that Musk claimed Putin informed him that if Ukraine invaded Crimea, these objectives would be achieved at all costs, even even at the danger of a nuclear attack. The Tesla CEO reportedly informed him that “everything needs to be done to avert that consequence,” according to what he wrote.
Andrij Melnyk, a former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, had already attacked Musk after becoming enraged by the billionaire’s remarks.
“F*** 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.
The annexation of four regions—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia—was formally declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. He asserted that “this is the choice of millions of people.”
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to a request for assistance from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics to protect themselves. Following the military action, the western nations enacted a number of sanctions aimed at the Russian economy.
