Tech baron Elon Musk appeared to name for US sanctions in opposition to rich Ukrainians as a way of pushing for an finish to the bloody struggle — whereas boasting that he’s been propping up the nation’s navy together with his Starlink satellite tv for pc web.
When pressed about his current knack for lashing out at Kyiv extra steadily than Moscow, Musk highlighted his 2022 problem for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to struggle him.
“Place sanctions on the highest 10 Ukrainian oligarchs, particularly those with mansions in Monaco, and this may cease instantly. That’s the key to the puzzle,” Musk, 53, wrote on X within the wee Sunday hours.
Musk’s suggestion got here in response to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) arguing that the US shouldn’t supply “one other penny” for Kyiv as protesters unfurled a large Ukrainian flag in entrance of the White Home.
Amid the backlash, Musk highlighted his ongoing help for Ukraine through his Starlink system and boasted that the satellite-powered web system has been vital to Kyiv.
“I actually challenged Putin to at least one on one bodily fight over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the spine of the Ukrainian military,” Musk contended in response to a consumer that accused him of attacking Ukraine greater than Russia. “Their whole entrance line would collapse if I turned it off.”
“What I’m sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose. Anybody who actually cares, actually thinks and actually understands needs the meat grinder to cease. PEACE NOW!!”
Again in 2022, after Russia’s unprovoked, bloody invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Musk challenged Putin to single fight, saying that the “stakes are Ukraine.” That struggle, in fact, by no means occurred. Russian officers later mocked him as “Elona.”
Musk has additionally challenged Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, who’s a couple of decade youthful than him and actively trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. That fist-to-cuffs by no means occurred, both.
President Trump has additionally taken a hardline method to Ukraine in a bid to strain them to the negotiating desk with Russia.
This marks a big change from the Biden administration’s posture through which the US was actively on Ukraine’s aspect. Trump is making an attempt to place himself extra within the center to dealer peace between the 2 warring international locations.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed final week that the US has halted its intelligence sharing efforts with Ukraine because the nation scrambles to fend off Russian invaders. Trump has additionally pumped the brakes on navy help.
Trump, 78, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky clashed publicly within the Oval Workplace late final month, and Ukraine has labored to fix fences with Washington.
In the meantime, Trump has groused about Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine and threatened to leverage sanctions and different financial means to strain the Kremlin to the negotiating desk.
“Primarily based on the truth that Russia is totally ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield proper now, I’m strongly contemplating giant scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia till a Stop Hearth and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED,” Trump wrote on Fact Social Friday.
However later within the day, Trump clarified to reporters that he finds it “tougher, frankly, to take care of Ukraine.”
US and Ukrainian officers are set to satisfy in Saudi Arabia later this week to hash out their variations and try to revive a mineral settlement.