Elon Musk went on a tweetstorm focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine and avoiding letting the conflict become a nuclear war.
Musk’s Twitter spree began on Sunday morning after another Twitter user brought up a 2016 tweet about how Musk wanted to bake cookies on a Sunday morning. Musk replied, “Feels so long ago. A pleasant memory :)” before adding, “I’ve been up all night trying to think of any possible way to de-escalate this war.”
Around the same time Musk tweeted about pulling an all-nighter to resolve the Ukraine-Russia war, another Twitter user shared his flow-chart predicting the likelihood of the conflict escalating into a nuclear war.
The flow-chart envisions a few possibilities of either Ukraine or Russia winning the conflict in a manner that achieves de-escalation. The chart also lays out a path where “David” is winning in the David versus Goliath struggle and this leads to Russia nuking Ukraine, causing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to retaliate, which then leads to WW3 with the bold letters “KABOOM.”
The Twitter user who posted the flowchart included the caption, “Here’s why I think there’s now a one-in-six chance of an imminent global #NuclearWar, and why I appreciate @elonmusk and others urging de-escalation, which is IMHO in the national security interest of all nations.”
“Nuclear war probability is rising rapidly,” Musk tweeted in response to the flow-chart.
Later on Sunday, another Twitter user referenced Musk’s proclivity to take on major projects like electric vehicles, space travel and implants that could allow human brains to control technology.
“Because being the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, Boring Company, Neuralink, and buying Twitter wasn’t enough, @elonmusk has now decided he needs to solve war too,” the Twitter user said.
Musk responded, tweeting, “I have no desire to become involved in wars, but it is safe to say that all bets are off if the nukes start flying.”
Musk has shown an increased focus in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine in recent days. Last week, he tweeted his proposal for a peace process in Ukraine and warned that there could be a nuclear war if peace is not achieved.
Musk’s peace proposal entailed throwing out the results of Russian-backed referenda in which four eastern Ukrainian territories voted to become part of Russia. Musk proposed that the referenda would be held once again, this time under United Nations supervision. His deal entailed a commitment from Russia that it would leave if the new vote didn’t go its way, and Ukraine would commit to neutrality between Russia and NATO and restore water access to Russian-controlled Crimea.
Musk’s proposal garnered a positive response from the Russian side, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov saying it was a good sign that someone with Musk’s influence is “looking for a peaceful way out.” Peskov said the two sides won’t be able to achieve peace “without fulfilling Russia’s conditions.”
Ukrainian officials responded less favorably to Musk’s peace proposal. The Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk told Musk to “f-ck off.”
Musk had freely provided his Starlink satellite internet services to Ukraine near the start of the war, helping them to maintain critical communications after the destruction of the initial Russian assault. Despite helping Ukraine early on in the war, many Twitter users accused Musk of siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even tweeted a two-option poll for the question “Which [Elon Musk] do you like more?” with the choice of “One who supports Ukraine” or “One who supports Russia.”
