Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany has hit back at Elon Musk after the Tesla boss attempted a Twitter poll to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Musk floated a number of ideas for resolving the dispute, asking his supporters to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on his proposals, which included formally allowing Russia to annex Crimea.
“The only result is (sic) that now no Ukrainian will EVER buy your fucking tesla shit. So good luck to you,” Ambassador Andriy Melnyk wrote.
And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even followed his own poll on Twitter, asking his followers which Elon Musk they preferred, “He who supports Ukraine” or “He who supports Russia”.
The billionaire was attacked by Mr Melnyk after he presented a series of specific peace proposals to end the conflict, which is now in its eight month.
“Redo the elections of the annexed regions under the supervision of the UN. Russia leaves if that is the will of the people,” Mr. Musk wrote.
“Crimea is officially part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).
“Crimea’s water supply is secure. – Ukraine remains neutral.
The richest person in the world then added: “It is very likely that this will be the end result – just a question of how many people will die before that.
“It should also be noted that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome of this conflict is nuclear war.”
He later added: “Russia is doing a partial mobilization. They go to full war mobilization if Crimea is in danger. Death on both sides will be devastating. Russia has >3 times the population of Ukraine, so victory for Ukraine is unlikely in an all-out war. If you care about the Ukrainian people, seek peace.
Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger also joined in mocking Mr Musk.
“This idea reminds me of fourth-grade social studies where we made a peace plan between the USSR and the United States. We thought that if Gorbachev and Reagan were forced to eat an American dinner and a Russian one, they would become friends .for real,” he tweeted.
Ukrainian diplomat Sergiy Kyslytsya, who is the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations, also attacked Mr Musk on Twitter.
“Next time I need a plumber, I’ll call (Elon Musk). He doesn’t do plumbing?! So what is it, why is he talking about relationships By the way, a good plumber is better than Musk’s indirect opinions on the illegally occupied territories of a foreign country.
Mr Musk was previously a popular figure with key Ukrainian politicians after his Starlink network of internet-broadcasting satellites helped keep the country connected throughout the conflict.
Two days after Russia’s unprovoked attack on the country in February, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister tweeted directly at Mr. Muskurging him to send Starlink material.
And two days later, the politician posted a photo of the first shipment arrival in Ukraine.