Washington: The World's richest man and Tesla CEO Elon Musk told US Republican senators that there is 'no way in hell' that Russian President Vladimir Putin will lose the Ukraine war.

He added, "If he were to back off, he would be assassinated."

The comments were made in a forum on Monday during a discussion on social media platform X's Spaces where Musk commented, weighing in on a conflict that has affected his own Starlink satellite services.

He also added that people who think that they can force a regime change in Russia are wrong and warned that the next person at the helm will likely be more "hardcore' than the Russian President.

"For those who want regime change in Russia, they should think about who is the person that could take out Putin, and is that person likely to be a peacenik? Probably not. (Such a person would likely be) even more hardcore than Putin."

The billionaire made these comments as the discussion involved a Senate bill that aimed to provide more support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. He said that providing Ukraine with aid won't help the country. "Prolonging the war does not help Ukraine.”

He was joined by Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, JD Vance of Ohio and Mike Lee of Utah, Vivek Ramaswamy, former Republican presidential candidate, and David Sacks, a co-founder of Craft Ventures LLC.   

The Russia-Ukraine war began on February 24, 2022, and has caused damage worth millions, forcing people to be displaced to other bordering countries with hundreds and thousands of deaths.