Elon Musk, the billionaire-entrepreneur founder of SpaceX and Tesla stirred up a hornet’s nest of foreign policy controversy on Oct. 3.
Musk’s misstep in the eyes of Ukraine supporters was the suggestion of a diplomatic solution with Russia. A solution where Kyiv would make concessions.
In a tweet on Monday, Musk proposed, “Ukraine-Russia Peace: – Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people. – Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake). – Water supply to Crimea assured. – Ukraine remains neutral.”
He took a simple yes or no poll that garnered 2,748,378 votes. 59.1 percent of the respondents opposed the proposal, and 40.9 percent agreed.
Ukraine-Russia Peace:
– Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people.
– Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).
– Water supply to Crimea assured.
– Ukraine remains neutral.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2022
Further along the thread, Musk continued, “This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end – just a question of how many die before then,” adding, “Also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took serious issues with Musk’s suggestion.
Which @elonmusk do you like more?
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 3, 2022