Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany has fired back at Elon Musk after the Tesla boss tried out a Twitter poll to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Musk 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.
“The only outcome ist (sic) that now no Ukrainian will EVER buy your f...ing tesla crap. So good luck to you,” Ambassador Andriy Melnyk wrote.
And Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, even followed up with a Twitter poll of his own, asking his followers which Elon Musk they preferred, “One who supports Ukraine” or “One who supports Russia.”
The billionaire was attacked by Mr Melnyk after setting out a string of specific peace proposals to end the conflict, which has now stretched into its eighth month.
“Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people,” wrote Mr Musk.
“ Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).
“Water supply to Crimea assured. - Ukraine remains neutral.”
The world’s richest person then added: “This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end – just a question of how many die before then.
“Also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war.”
He later added: “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.”
Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger also joined in on mocking Mr Musk.
“This idea reminds me of fourth grade social studies where we came up with a peace plan between USSR and USA. We thought that if Gorbachev and Reagan were forced to eat one dinner of American food and 1 of Russian, they would become friends. For reals,” 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 call (Elon Musk). He doesn’t do plumbing?! Then what the heck’s the matter, why does he speak of international relations and internal law? Btw a good plumber is better than Musk’s secondhand opinions on illegally occupied territories of a foreign nation.”
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda joined in the criticism, claiming on Twitter that if “someone tries to steal the wheels of your Tesla, it doesn’t make them legal owner of the car or of the wheels. Even though they claim both voted in favour of it. Just saying”.
Mr Musk was previously a popular figure with leading Ukrainian politicians after his Starlink network of Internet-beaming satellites helped keep the country connected throughout the conflict.
Two days after Russia’s unprovoked attack on the country in February, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister tweeted directly at Mr Musk, urging him to send Starlink equipment.
And two days after that the politician posted a picture of the first shipment arriving in Ukraine.
