A number of top Ukrainian officials have criticized the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, for floating a plan to end the war. In a widely read Twitter post, Musk proposed for Crimea to become formally part of Russia, for Ukraine to remain a neutral country and for the U.N. to supervise a redo of elections in areas annexed by Russia. Musk posted his plan a day after Pope Francis issued his strongest call yet for Russia and Ukraine to find a way to end the war.
Pope Francis: “My appeal goes, above all, to the president of the Russian Federation, begging him to stop this spiral of violence and death, even out of love for his own people. On the other side, pained by the enormous suffering of the Ukrainian population following the aggression it suffered, I address an equally hopeful appeal to the president of Ukraine to be open to a serious peace proposal.”
That was Pope Francis on Sunday. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree ruling out any talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.