Elon Musk strongly criticized Mr. Zelensky on social media

The US billionaire accused the Ukrainian leader of leaving “many people dying in the trenches” instead of seeking a peace deal.

Billionaire Elon Musk strongly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on social media. Photo: Getty.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has lashed out at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in a series of X posts, accusing him of prolonging the conflict with Russia by refusing to negotiate.

Musk’s comments came after a tense meeting at the White House on February 28 between Mr. Zelensky, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The meeting ended abruptly without a planned agreement on minerals.

In a heated exchange, Mr Zelensky resisted Mr Trump’s demands for talks with Moscow, prompting the US president to accuse him of being ungrateful, “gambling with World War III” and lacking the willingness to end the conflict.

Following Mr Zelensky’s “failure” in Washington, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened an emergency summit in London on Sunday to discuss Western support for Ukraine. Some European leaders raised the possibility of sending ground troops.

Early Sunday morning, Musk retweeted a statement from Balazs Orban, political director for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, calling for “direct negotiations with Russia” and “immediate ceasefire and peace.” He later retweeted his 2022 peace proposal, which calls for referendums in Russian-controlled territories, recognition of Crimea as Russian, and neutrality in Ukraine.

“What I said over 2 years ago was that Ukraine should seek peace or suffer massive loss of life for nothing. The latter was Zelensky’s choice. Now he wants to do it again. This is cruel and inhumane,” Musk wrote in a pinned post.

Musk went on to create a meme of an electric car running over people with Mr Zelensky at the controls. Another post showed a blood-stained chessboard next to a dining table with the caption: “The realities of war.”

He later reposted the image, adding: “EU leaders and Zelensky are having fancy dinners while men die in the trenches. How many parents will never see their children again?”

Musk’s comments come as Mr Zelensky has demanded more funding from Western backers while rejecting talks with Moscow. Reports suggest Washington is unwilling to approve more aid unless Ukraine agrees to negotiate.

During the summit, Mr Starmer called on the EU and other donors to take a leading role in supporting Kiev. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed the idea, saying “everything is ready”. French President Emmanuel Macron said the deployment would only be possible “when peace is signed”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed strong opposition to the deployment of Western peacekeepers. He stressed that NATO’s expansion towards Russia’s borders is considered a threat and the deployment of its troops in Ukraine, even under a different guise, will not change this perception.