Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is now into year two and is escalating.
And as the rhetoric mounts on both sides, observers seeking a peaceful resolution seem to have lost hope.
Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur, is one of those supporters of Ukraine who has been seeking a solution. The conflict gave Musk international prominence and geopolitical influence after he supplied Starlink satellites to Ukraine. Starlink is the satellite-internet-access service developed by SpaceX, the space-technology company founded by the tech mogul.
For many observers Starlink has been a game-changer in the war. The service has given Ukrainians uninterrupted, independent and secure Internet access after Russia destroyed the country's telecommunications infrastructure.
'Nuclear War Probability Is Rising': Musk
The billionaire says, however, that the conflict presents enormous risks. He says he fears it will turn into a third world war with disastrous consequences for not just Ukraine but the whole world. That's because he does not exclude the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons if Russia found itself in a position to lose this conflict.
"Nuclear war probability is rising rapidly," the billionaire warned last October.
That same month, Musk appeared even more pessimistic about the war.
"Most probable outcome by far is a horrible war of attrition that destroys Ukraine & severely damages Russia, with massive body count on both sides. And, in the end, the same outcome. So why?" the billionaire warned on Oct. 20.
This pessimism, even despair, had led him a few days earlier to propose a controversial peace plan. accepting many or most of Putin's demands. The proposal, one of his first big mistakes on the world stage, brought him severe criticism from all over.
It is in this context that one can understand his recent refusal and that of SpaceX to allow Ukraine to use Starlink antennas to run Ukrainian drones. SpaceX has put in place measures to curtail the Ukrainian military's use of Starlink to control drones.
"We are not allowing Starlink to be used for long-range drone strikes," he said on Jan. 31. Five months earlier, the billionaire asserted that Starlink was a tool for "peaceful use only."
Musk Blames Victoria Nuland
The billionaire has for months been preoccupied with finding a peaceful way to solve the conflict. For now, Musk seems to have found the culprit for the escalation of the war. What's surprising is that he does not fault the belligerents but rather an American diplomat.
Musk accuses the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, Victoria Nuland, of warmongering in this conflict.
It all started with a Twitter thread from the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, who shared a Newsweek article in which the Russian journalist Igor Korotchenko claimed on state television that the U.S. had declared war on his country.
The journalist blasts the Biden administration for supporting Ukrainian strikes in Crimea, a peninsula Russia annexed in 2014.
In the same article, Nuland indicated that the U.S. supported Ukrainian attacks on military targets in Crimea.
"No matter what the Ukrainians decide about Crimea in terms of where they choose to fight etc., Ukraine is not going to be safe unless Crimea is at a minimum, at a minimum, demilitarized," Nuland said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
These remarks seem to have been enough for Musk to blame her for the escalation of the conflict.
"Nobody is pushing this war more than Nuland," the billionaire said on Feb. 22.
The billionaire's accusation sparked a torrent of negative comments about him. Many comments pointed out to Musk that it was not Nuland who invaded Ukraine but Putin.
"So Putin invades a sovereign nation and it’s everybody else’s fault. What am I missing?" commented one Twitter user.
"Putin, for example. No?" added another Twitter user.
"More disinfo marching orders arriving from Moscow for Peterson & his eager acolyte: @elonmusk is a truly pathetic shill," said Canadian diplomat Chris Alexander.
Musk hasn't yet responded to the criticism. Nor has Nuland responded to Musk.
