Elon Musk believes the West is sending Ukrainian boys through a “meat grinder” to die fighting their Russian cousins, and he calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and normalization of relations with Moscow to prevent a third world war Great war.
In a Spaces discussion moderated by Musk partner David Sacks, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was both an outspoken critic of U.S. aid to Kyiv, discussing It quickly moved away from the nominal talk of Israel and Hamas to the broader geopolitical debate. Three wealthy tech entrepreneurs agree that Western sanctions are to blame for driving Russia into the arms of China.
Musk cited his experience as SpaceX executive dealing with the defense and intelligence communities and his frequent meetings with world leaders and said he was concerned about the current breakdown in communication lines between major powers. He added that this fostered an environment of suspicion, with each thinking the other might be preparing for an attack.
“Russia and China have begun joint military exercises, and I don’t know how many people know that,” Musk said Monday said. “We are sleepwalking into World War III, making one stupid decision after another.”
The West’s decision to launch a raft of punitive sanctions against Vladimir Putin after Moscow sought support from Beijing may prove to be a fatal mistake.
“What choice do we give them?” Musk criticized this, before laying out what this might mean in practice – that the Western alliance cannot sustain weapons production against the militaristic East.
“Russia has the raw materials, China has the industrial capabilities, and frankly, from a war-fighting perspective, it’s a perfect match.”
Rule-based order
When Sacks asked whether a détente with Russia was still possible and Ramaswamy questioned whether Putin could be persuaded to trust the West, Musk took the opportunity to revisit last October’s contentious peace offer.
This would include holding internationally monitored referendums in territories captured by Putin’s forces. Ukrainian refugees will be given the chance to return to the homes they fled as Putin’s troops advanced. Musk said this would allow them to vote with their fellow Russians because the two Slavic peoples are not “natural rivals.”
Since neither side can completely defeat the other, the entrepreneur believes that the best solution for civilization as a whole is for Ukraine to trade land for peace. Their concession would save the lives of Ukrainians whose “flower of youth” was cut short, while helping to prevent wider conflict.
“I think we should seek peace immediately, we should get back to normal relations as soon as possible — this is not some reward for Russia, this is just an acknowledgment of reality,” Musk said.
If Musk’s proposal comes to fruition, it would mark the third time Putin’s appetite for territorial expansion through military conquest has been satiated, having first sent troops into Georgia’s ethnic Russian enclaves in 2008 and then again in 2008. Sent to Crimea in 2014.
In Musk’s view, if the alternative is World War III, then the end of any rules-based international order is an inevitable evil. This is far worse than going back to the imperial days of the last century.
“If civilization disappears, it’s all over for everyone,” he said.
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