Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, said that Ukraine should give up some of its territories and hold new elections in regions Russia has annexed.
Musk asked voters to weigh in on a series of proposals to achieve Ukraine-Russia peace: redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision and Russia leaving if that is the will of the people, Crimea remains part of Russia, water supply to Crimea is assured and Ukraine remains neutral.
More than 63% of respondents voted no while the rest voted yes.
Musk said that such a scenario is highly likely to be the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine War, noting it was just a question of how many people die before that. He also argued that nuclear war was a possible outcome of the conflict.
The series of tweets didn't sit well with Ukrainians.
Why did Elon Musk declare himself a diplomacy expert? Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Lapatina tweeted.
It is not just about territory, Elon! It is about people! It is about the genocide of Ukrainian language and culture! Olexander Scherba, a former Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, said peace for you is a destroyed, crippled life. It is about allowing a new Hitler to have his way! Even the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky weighed in on the controversy, asking his followers which Elon Musk they like more: the one who supports Ukraine or the one who supports Russia. An overwhelming majority of the voters voted for the former option.
The backlash shows a change in public opinion from earlier this year when Musk sent thousands of Starlink satellite internet kits to Ukraine at the beginning of the war, helping them stay connected while battling Russia.
In a series of follow-up tweets, Musk said: Let s try this then: the will of the people who live in Donbas Crimea should decide whether they are part of Russia or Ukraine. Nearly 55% of the respondents voted yes, while more than 45% voted no.
Russia is doing partial mobilization. If Crimea is at risk, they go to full war mobilization. Musk wrote that the death on both sides will be devastating. Russia has more than three times the population of Ukraine, so victory for Ukraine is unlikely to have a war.