Elon Musk, the billionaire, has suggested that military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine could escalate into a global war, according to The Wall Street Journal. He suggested that US military power is not what it used to be compared to other world powers, and stressed the need for improved relations with Russia.
Key facts
- “We need to find peace in Ukraine and I think we need to restore normal relations with Russia,” Musk said.
- The billionaire added that the current situation could force Russia to cooperate even more closely with China, which “would have disastrous consequences for the United States.”
- Speaking in an online group discussion on his X platform, Musk also called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, calling the war against Russia a "lost situation."
- Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took part in the discussion and also expressed similar opinions. He repeated Musk's warning about the possibility of global conflict, saying that "if we enter World War III, the United States as we know it will cease to exist."
- Musk said that “civilization itself may be at stake,” so the priority of US policy should be to avoid World War III and prevent a situation where “a regional conflict quickly turns into a global one.”
- Musk also said that there are no anti-Russian uprisings in the occupied “Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine,” hinting that the current lines of control could be turned into a ceasefire line or a permanent border.
Context
On October 3 last year, Musk proposed his approach to peace between Ukraine and Russia . The Ukrainians did not appreciate him. Thousands of Ukrainians spoke sharply or began to explain to Musk why he was wrong. President Vladimir Zelensky, Oksana Zabuzhko, former Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnik, Sergei Prytula and others responded. Musk called it a "bot attack."
He proposed a “peace plan” involving the abolition of annexation and new referendums in the temporarily occupied territories, leaving Crimea to Russia (ignoring Khrushchev’s “mistake”), ensuring the flow of water to the peninsula and the neutrality of Ukraine.
It was subsequently reported that Musk, before his tweet about the “peace plan” for Ukraine, spoke personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin .
In 2022, Elon Musk prevented the Ukrainian military from attacking the Russian fleet with underwater drones , CNN previously reported, citing an excerpt from a new biography of Musk by Walter Isaacson. The billionaire himself denied the report that he had limited the operation of Starlink satellite communications. Musk explained that the regions occupied by Russia were not activated, and therefore SpaceX did not deactivate anything . At the same time, Musk confirmed that he had received an urgent request from Ukraine to do this, but refused.
Recently, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX and former Twitter posted a mocking meme of President Vladimir Zelensky . In response, the billionaire received a barrage of online hatred and accusations of playing along with pro-Russian propaganda.
Social network X Mask was named the largest means of spreading disinformation , said Vice-President of the European Commission Vera Jourová. The European Union has called on Silicon Valley platforms to increase their vigilance in combating Russian narratives.
