Elon Musk is in troubled waters.
The CEO of Tesla (TSLA), whose popularity and influence have exploded around the world since his support for Ukraine after Russia invaded the country, has been on social media since Oct. 3.
But the world's richest man has proposed a controversial peace plan to end the war that started on February 24 and has already caused thousands of deaths and displaced millions.
This plan includes a sensitive point: Musk proposes that Ukraine recognize that its region of Crimea, annexed in 2014 by Russia, is Russian territory. He also proposes that the country commits not to join either the European Union or NATO.
Risk of Total War
This proposal is strongly rejected by the Ukrainians, who see it as a request to capitulate and believe that Musk has become a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The billionaire's popularity rating thus seems to have fallen on social networks where many Ukrainians, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country's ambassador to Germany, not only pointed out that submitting such an important question to a vote on Twitter was inappropriate but that the plan was a capitulation.
"F--- off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk," commented Ukraine's Ambassador in Germany Andrij Melnyk in a tweet.
Faced with numerous criticisms, Musk has just repeated his support for Ukraine. He believes his plan for peace is because he fears the conflict will escalate into a full war.
There is also the risk that the conflict could lead to a nuclear war which would then have important consequences for not only Ukraine but also the entire planet, the tech tycoon warned.
"I still very much support Ukraine, but am convinced that massive escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and possibly the world," Musk responded to President Zelensky's criticism.
He voiced similar concerns to Twitter users horrified by his peace plan.
"Russia is doing partial mobilization," the serial entrepreneur posted. "They go to full war mobilization if Crimea is at risk. Death on both sides will be devastating."
He added that: "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."
Option of a Nuclear War
The billionaire reminded its critics that the option of a nuclear war is on the table for Russia, which has recently suffered symbolic defeats in Ukrainian regions.
"Also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war," Musk said.
The CEO of Tesla said he wants to prevent the conflict from reaching a point of no return. He thus insisted that achieving peace is his goal.
He explained that the facts speak for his support to Ukraine: he reminded detractors that he not only exposed his company SpaceX to Russian cyberattacks by offering Starlink, the satellite internet access service developed by the aerospace company. But he exposed himself personally as well.
"SpaceX’s out of pocket cost to enable & support Starlink in Ukraine is ~$80M so far. Our support for Russia is $0. Obviously, we are pro Ukraine," the billionaire posted on Twitter on a wild day that saw him get blasted by Ukrainians and social media users alike.
"Trying to retake Crimea will cause massive death, probably fail & risk nuclear war. This would be terrible for Ukraine & Earth."
"We gave Starlinks to Ukraine & lost $80M+ in doing so, while putting SpaceX & myself at serious risk of Russian cyberattack," he responded to former World Chess Master Garry Kasparov who told him that his peace plan was a "repetition of Kremlin propaganda."
"What have you done besides tweet?" Musk added.
The poll organized by Musk on his peace plan had already received nearly 3 million votes at the time of this writing. What is certain is that this initiative has tarnished the reputation that the billionaire had built among millions of Ukrainians and anti-Russians around the world.
But as he said himself to a detractor: "You are assuming that I wish to be popular. I don’t care."
