Musk’s peace plan welcomed by Kremlin, but Kyiv tells him to stick to the day job

THE Kremlin has thanked Elon Musk after the Tesla chief executive put forward his own controversial peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, prompting a backlash from officials in Kyiv.

Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, suggested that four regions of Ukraine illegally annexed by Russia should have new elections under the supervision of the United Nations.

Moscow has tried to legitimise its land grab, covering nearly a fifth of Ukraine, with votes that were widely dismissed as illegitimate in Kyiv and in the West. However, the Kremlin called Mr Musk’s path to a possible peace deal a “positive” step yesterday, hours after Kyiv rebuked the billionaire’s proposal.

Mr Musk suggested making Crimea, which Moscow invaded and annexed from Ukraine in 2014, “formally part of Russia”, that water supply to Crimea be assured and that Ukraine remain neutral. He asked Twitter users to vote “yes” or “no” in a poll on the plan.

A majority of respondents on Twitter voted “No” in response. In follow-up tweets, Mr Musk appeared to blame the result on a “bot attack”.

Another of Mr Musk’s companies, Spacex, became involved early on in the seven-month-old conflict, dispatching Starlink internet terminals to Ukraine to boost its internet access.

His latest proposal provoked outrage from Ukrainian officials while Western allies accused him of “moral idiocy” and repeating Russian propaganda.

“F--- off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, wrote in response to Mr Musk’s Twitter thread.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, proposed a Twitter poll of his own, asking users: “Which @elonmusk do you like more?”

The president offered two responses: “one who supports Ukraine” and “one who supports Russia”.

Mr Musk, 51, responded to President Zelensky, saying he “very much” supports Ukraine but was convinced that a “massive escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and possibly the world”.

Mr Musk’s input was welcomed by the Kremlin, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was “very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation”.