So naturally, he took to Twitter yesterday to put in his two cents on how to end the ongoing war resulting from Russia's illegal February invasion of Ukraine--and offering solutions suspiciously similar to those propagated by Russian state media, no less.
And Ukrainian officials, including President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, did not appreciate it.
Along with his Russia-approved proposals, Musk included a poll for his users to vote on what they thought of his ideas. So Zelenskyy responded with a poll of his own shadily dragging Musk, seen below.
\u201cWhich @elonmusk do you like more?\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
Zelenskyy's twitter poll asked: "Which @elonmusk do you like more?" People had two choices of response: "One who supports Ukraine" or "One who supports Russia." The pro-Ukraine option won by a landslide.
Musk's proposals angered many on Twitter yesterday after he essentially suggested Ukraine capitulate to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine in February unprovoked and has since claimed to have annexed four regions of Ukraine.
\u201cUkraine-Russia Peace:\n\n- Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people.\n\n- Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev\u2019s mistake).\n\n- Water supply to Crimea assured.\n\n- Ukraine remains neutral.\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1664813743
Musk's proposals included a redo of the sham elections Putin had Russian troops administer in the regions he says he annexed, in which Ukrainians in those regions were asked, often at gunpoint, to vote on whether they want to maintain their sovereignty or join the Russian federation.
Musk suggested these elections be redone with UN supervision, implying that Russia's claims of annexation are valid.
He also recommended Ukraine "remain neutral," rather than joining the EU or NATO, thereby letting Putin run roughshod over the country as he pleases. And Musk proposed Ukraine relinquish any claim on Crimea, the region Putin illegally seized in 2014.
Musk's proposals were widely praised by the Kremlin, and came as has begun threatening to defend his illegal annexations with nuclear attacks against Ukraine, the US, NATO and other allies of Zelenskyy.
Taken together, Zelenskyy's clapback at Musk was exponentially kinder than many would manage--like, for example, Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk, who just ended his tenure as the country's ambassador to Germany last week.
He had a much more pointed response to Musk's proposals.
@MelnykAndrij/Twitter
He tweeted at Musk:
"Fu*k off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk."
Yep, that about sums it up.
On Twitter, many loved Zelenskyy's pointed response to Musk's two cents.
\u201cimagine sending tweets so bad that a president of a country at war takes time out of his evening to dunk on you\u201d— Jane Lytvynenko (@Jane Lytvynenko) 1664822927
\u201c@ZelenskyyUa @elonmusk Elon\u2026.\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
\u201c@ZelenskyyUa @IAPonomarenko @elonmusk This is the best clap back I\u2019ve ever seen on Twitter.\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
\u201c@ZelenskyyUa @elonmusk There is only one way to achieve peace, and Ukrainian heroes are working on it.\n\n https://t.co/IO5OwjLWku\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
\u201cStick to cars @elonmusk\u201d— Gianni Riotta (@Gianni Riotta) 1664825574
\u201c@ZelenskyyUa @elonmusk Honestly they both suck. We don't need him.\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
\u201cThe Zelensky dunk on Elon Musk is here\u201d— Jack Detsch (@Jack Detsch) 1664823138
\u201c@ZelenskyyUa @elonmusk\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
\u201c@ZelenskyyUa @elonmusk The one who stays in his lane and doesn\u2019t speak of things he doesn\u2019t understand\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
\u201c@ZelenskyyUa @elonmusk Honestly, I feel like we'd all be better off without him.\u201d— \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@\u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439) 1664822729
Musk has since responded to Zelenskyy, saying he still "very much support[s] Ukraine" but is concerned about the potential harm of an escalating long-term war.
It's interesting that he's not tweeting those sentiments at the country who started the war in the first place.