Elon Musk claims 'relentless escalation' of the conflict is harmful for Ukraine

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that he is a supporter of Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war, however, he also warned that relentless escalation of the war is "very risky". The new Twitter chief made these remarks on Twitter on Friday (local time). Musk was responding to a tweet by a Twitter user, who shared a New York Times article about how the US is helping Ukraine to target Crimea. The Ukrainian peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014.

“I am super pro-Ukraine, but relentless escalation is very risky for Ukraine and the world”, Musk wrote on Twitter. He was responding to South African-American entrepreneur David Sacks, who re-tweeted the NYT article. Commenting on the article Sacks wrote, “This seems insanely risky”, the Space X CEO agreed with Sacks and asserted that the escalations can be risky for Kyiv, which is already struggling with the wrath of the Russian forces. Elon Musk has been quite involved in the Russia-Ukraine war from the very beginning. From deploying Starlink for keeping the internet in Ukraine up and running, to proposing a controversial peace plan, Musk has done it all. 

Musk and the Russia-Ukraine war

Musk has been an ardent supporter of Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war, however, he also pushed the need to end the war immediately. In October Musk proposed a peace plan which turned out to be extremely controversial. According to Sputnik, Musk’s plan would have guaranteed that Russia will continue to maintain the Crimean peninsula and that there will be continued water supply to the peninsula from the Ukrainian bloc. In the proposal Musk also urged the United Nations to monitor referenda in four separatist regions, that previously voted to join the Russian Federation. The proposed peace plan was heavily criticised by several US and Ukrainian officials, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In November, the Ukrainian President urged Musk to visit Ukraine and see the situation in the country “first-hand”. 

In the New York Times article published earlier this week, the news outlet reported that the Biden administration is considering providing Ukraine with more power to take back the Crimean peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014. It was reported that the Biden administration is considering moving in this direction, even if such a move can “increase the risk of escalation”. However, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council expressed hesitancy to maintain such a stance. During her conversation with the news outlet, Watson asserted, “We have said throughout the war that Crimea is Ukraine, and Ukraine has the right to defend themselves and their sovereign territory in their internationally recognized borders”.