Policy

Musk calls for no aid to Ukraine

American businessman Elon Musk has spoken out against the adoption of a bill to provide assistance to Ukraine. He called on US citizens to put pressure on their representatives in Congress not to vote for the document, Bloomberg reports with reference to Bloomberg.

At the X Spaces forum, where Musk spoke with Republican congressmen and businessmen, he agreed with Congressman Ron Jones’ statement that Putin cannot lose in Ukraine, and those who think otherwise are living in a fantasy world.

Musk called on American voters to contact their congressmen and demand that they not support the Ukraine aid bill.

“This spending does not help Ukraine. It does not help Ukraine to prolong the war,”

– he said.

Musk added that he wants to stop people from dying on both sides.

Ukrainian diplomat Ruslan Osypenko believes that Musk’s statements are evidence that the businessman understands that agreements are being prepared.

“Musk does not see political elites developing a plan to defeat Russia. And since there is no plan for victory, Musk understands that agreements will be made. That’s why he writes so boldly that Russia will not lose in any case, knowing that somewhere out there this decision is already being prepared,”

– the diplomat told Espresso.

According to him, there are all formal signs for such conclusions.

“Aid to Ukraine is being delayed, and Russia has actively begun to cut off oxygen to its profits. In December, Biden personally signed several orders to strengthen control over oil trade and the financial sector. That is, to restrict financial transactions with Russian companies under sanctions. This means that the potential of both Russia and Ukraine to continue the war is being reduced. That is, they will push us to the negotiating table,”

– osypenko is sure.

Musk: helping Ukraine with love for Russia

Elon Musk has repeatedly made ambiguous statements about the Russian-Ukrainian war and even expressed direct sympathy for the aggressors and their leader Putin. For example, Musk has stated that Putin is a “good guy”, he likes Russians, and he would not mind getting a Russian passport. He also suggested holding referendums in the territories occupied by Russia.

As a matter of principle, the businessman allows Russian propaganda to spread on his platform X. It is there, for example, that Carlson‘s recent interview with Putin was published. Musk calls it freedom of speech.

Starlink communications are extremely effective for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but there are problems with this because of Musk’s position. Initially, he declared the free transfer and use of Starlink in Ukraine, but this position changed. Thus, in October 2022, SpaceX announced that it could turn off Starlink for Ukraine, as it could no longer financially “bear” these costs. It all ended up with the Pentagon paying for Starlink for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition, there have been reports that Elon Musk manages Starlink at his own discretion, which sometimes affects the military situation in Ukraine. In particular, CNN, referring to an excerpt from Walter Isaacson’s biographical book about Musk, reported an episode when Musk turned off Starlink near the Crimean coast to prevent Ukrainian naval drones from attacking Russian ships. It worked and the attack was thwarted.

Also, on the eve of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counter-offensive in 2023, there was an incident with the restriction of Starlink communication for Ukrainian drones. SpaceX then confirmed this step and said that their Internet was “never intended to be used as a weapon”.

As you can see, the tendency is that Starlink usually stops working to save the occupiers’ lives and equipment from Ukrainian strikes. Therefore, the Ukrainian military is constantly forced to come up with different schemes for using Starlink connections to avoid giving Musk any reason to accuse them of using their Internet for offensive military operations.