Musk ‘Worthy of a Promotion’ After Russian Peace Tweet: Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev is among the high-ranking Russian officials publicly touting billionaire Elon Musk’s strategy for peace that includes Russia permanently taking Crimea as its own.

On Monday, Musk tweeted a four-point plan for Russian-Ukrainian peace that includes a redo of elections in the annexed regions under the supervision of the United Nations, with Russia leaving the territories if that is the “will of the people”; making Crimea formally part of Russia; assuring water supply to Crimea; and Ukraine remaining neutral.

A poll accompanying the tweet received about 2.7 million responses as of Tuesday morning, with approximately 59 percent of respondents disagreeing with Musk.

The pro-Russian elections in the aforementioned annexed regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson have been viewed as illegitimate by the West, as well as by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“Well done, Musk, it must be said,” Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote Tuesday in a Telegram post, according to a translation. “He’s worthy of a promotion to the next officer’s rank. In his next post, he might say something like ‘Ukraine is an artificial state.'”

Medvedev, the former Russian president and prime minister, has been one of Vladimir Putin’s staunchest supporters. In the summer, he suggested that Ukraine may not even exist in two years as its own country.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Security Council deputy chairman and the country’s former president, is pictured during a meeting at the Kremlin on September 20 in Moscow. Medvedev and other high-ranking Russian officials are thanking Elon Musk for suggesting that Crimea become permanently part of Russia. Contributor/Getty Images

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who maintains that Musk’s poll was inundated by “bots” that swayed the results, said that the Kremlin has “noticed that Musk’s initiative made many lose sleep in Europe, in Ukraine, in Poland, and in the Baltic republics,” the Latvia-based Meduza news outlet reported.

“It’s actually quite positive that someone like Elon Musk should look for a path towards peacefully resolving the situation,” Peskov was quoted by Meduza. “Unlike professional diplomats, Musk tries to find a way towards reaching peace. And reaching peace is completely impossible without meeting Russia’s conditions. Many [of Musk’s] ideas deserve attention.”

Musk also later tweeted that a Twitter “bot attack” influenced the poll’s results.

Russian Senator Sergei Tsekov told state-sponsored news agency Tass that it is “absolutely impossible” for Russia to refuse the referendum results. He instead focused on Musk’s comments regarding Crimea.

“The fact that Musk seeks to resolve the conflict is normal, that he unequivocally recognizes Crimea as a Russian region is normal,” Tsekov said, according to an English translation. “The fact that he proposes a referendum is his proposal, but this, frankly, is a utopia. We just held a referendum and what, conduct the second?”

On Monday, Ukrainian officials quickly denounced Musk’s tweet and suggestions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted his own Twitter poll, asking followers, “Which @elonmusk do you like more?” alongside the choices “one who supports Ukraine” and “one who supports Russia.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, 79 percent of over 2.3 million respondents chose the Ukrainian side.

Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk had a succinct response to Musk.

“F**k off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk,” Melnyk tweeted.

Other world leaders also chimed in.

“Dear @elonmusk, when someone tries to steal the wheels of your Tesla, it doesn’t make them legal owner of the car or of the wheels. Even though they claim both voted in favor of it. Just saying,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda tweeted.

Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin and Zelensky’s office for comment.