The hostilities should have ended in 2023, the billionaire has said
X (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk speaks during the Atreju political meeting organized by the young militants of Italian right wing party Brothers of Italy on December 16, 2023 in Rome. © Andreas SOLARO / AFP
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken a swipe at US President Joe Biden, after the American leader criticized Congress for failing to approve more funding for Kiev. The billionaire said the conflict between Ukraine and Russia should already have ended.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Musk weighed in on Biden’s comments during his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier in the day. The president had suggested that the failure of the US Congress to continue to support Ukraine would be “outrageous” and would border on “criminal neglect.”
The US has for months struggled to approve new funding for Kiev due to opposition among Republicans, who have demanded more money for security on America’s southern border. While Biden recently endorsed a $118 billion bill, $60 billion of which was earmarked for Ukraine, many GOP members have opposed it, saying it does not do enough to address the border crisis.
Responding to Biden’s criticism of Congress over Ukraine, Musk stated “it is time to stop the meat grinder,” adding that this “should have been done a year ago.”
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Earlier this week, the US-based billionaire also argued it is “insane” to send “so much money to Ukraine with no accountability and no end game.”
Russia has repeatedly said it is open to peace talks with Kiev, but has noted that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has outlawed any negotiations with the current leadership in Moscow. The leader signed the ban in 2022 after four former Ukrainian regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia.
Russia and Ukraine came close to settling the conflict in the spring of 2022, with Ukrainian neutrality a key point on the agenda, according to Moscow. Russian officials have said that the process, however, was derailed by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who advised Kiev to keep fighting – an allegation he denies.
In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that any talks on resolving the conflict should be conducted with the West, which he claimed had shown no interest in doing so.
