President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited US businessman Elon Musk to visit Ukraine to see the damage Elon Musk to visit Ukraine to see the damage done to the country by Russian forces, saying that such a visit could help the billionaire understand the situation before making pronouncements about it, The New York Times has reported.
"If you want to understand what Russia has done here, come to Ukraine and you will see this with your own eyes," Zelenskyy said. "After that, you will tell us how to end this war, who started and when we can end it," Zelenskyy said via video link to The New York Times' DealBook Summit.
He also said he didn’t think there was any immediate threat that Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, would use nuclear weapons as the war enters a new phase of winter combat.
Mr. Zelensky’s comments, made via video link to The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, were an implicit rebuke of Mr. Musk, the entrepreneur who last month proposed a peace plan for Ukraine that included ceding territory to Russia.
During the interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of The Times, the video link cut out, and when it resumed, Sorkin joked that Musk might have somehow cut the connection.
"I hear you," Zelenskyy said. "Most important is that Mr. Musk will hear us."
Last month Musk proposed a peace plan for Ukraine that included ceding territory to Russia.