Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired back at Elon Musk’s “insane” Twitter poll on Russia-Ukraine peace proposals.
Taking to Twitter, the Tesla titan proposed a range of ideas to resolve the eight-month conflict, urging his followers to vote “yes” or “no” on his proposals, which included formally allowing Russia to annex Crimea.
And the stunt went down badly with the head of state, who took to Twitter with a poll of his own.
Mr Zelensky, who has become a social media star himself over the course of the war, asked his 6.6million Twitter followers to vote which Elon Musk they “liked more”.
Then he gave them two choices: “One who supports Ukraine” or “One who supports Russia”.
The world’s richest man has been sharply criticized by Ukrainians after he presented concrete peace proposals to end the war.
“Repeat of elections in the annexed regions under UN supervision. Leave Russia if that is the will of the people,” Mr Musk wrote.
“Crimea has been formally part of Russia since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).
“Crimea’s water supply is secured. Ukraine remains neutral.”
The richest person in the world then added: “It will most likely end up like this – just a question of how many will die by then.
“It is also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome of this conflict is nuclear war.”
He later added: “Russia is conducting a partial mobilization. They go to full war mobilization when Crimea is in danger. Death on both sides will be devastating. Russia has more than three times the population of Ukraine, so Ukraine’s victory in all-out war is unlikely. If you care about the people of Ukraine, seek peace.”
Mr Musk’s proposals, including polling the annexed territories, have also drawn criticism from some Twitter critics.
“First of all, it’s just insane to interview people in an active and contested war zone, even during a ceasefire. The UN observers won’t stay forever. What happens to voters who choose ‘wrong’ after one side wins?” tweeted Dmitry Grozoubinski, a Ukrainian-born former Australian diplomat.
And another user added: “Elon is projecting Russian propaganda, Ukraine is bringing out the heavy weapons.”
“There should have been a third option: Elon Musk shutting up about things he doesn’t know about,” tweeted another user.