American billionaire Elon Musk asked Twitter users to think of a plan to end the Russian war in Ukraine, a proposal that was quickly condemned by Ukrainians, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, who responded with his own poll.
"Which of Elon Musk do you like more?" Zelensky wrote on Twitter, giving two answers: "One supports Ukraine, the other supports Russia."
Musk, the world's richest person, proposed holding elections under the supervision of the United Nations in 4 occupied regions, which Moscow moved last week to annex after it described them as referendums.
Kyiv and Western governments denounced these referendums, describing them as illegitimate and sham.
"Russia will leave if that is the will of the people," Musk wrote.
Tesla's CEO has proposed formally recognizing Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, as Russian, ensuring Crimea's water supply and keeping Ukraine neutral.
And he published an opinion poll on his Twitter account, asking citizens of the occupied areas of eastern Ukraine that were recently annexed by Russia, as well as citizens of the Crimean peninsula, to decide whether they want to live in Russia or Ukraine, and he asked Twitter users to vote yes or no on the plan.
In response, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausida said on Twitter, "Dear Elon Musk, when someone tries to steal the wheels of your Tesla, it does not make them a legal owner of the car or the wheels."
"Let's try this next: People living in Donbass and Crimea must decide at their own discretion whether they are part of Russia or Ukraine," Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX, added, with his first tweet with another poll.
He said he did not care if his proposal was unpopular, arguing that he cared about "millions of people needlessly dying for an essentially similar outcome".
"Russia has more than 3 times the population of Ukraine, so victory for Ukraine is unlikely in an all-out war. If you care about the people of Ukraine, ask for peace," he wrote on Twitter.
And in February, when the internet in Ukraine was down in the wake of Russia's war in Ukraine, Musk responded to a tweet by a Ukrainian government official asking for help.
Musk said SpaceX's satellite broadband service is available in Ukraine, and that SpaceX is sending more terminals to the former Soviet republic.
"The cost of SpaceX to enable and support Starlink in Ukraine is about $80 million so far. Our support for Russia is $0. We are clearly pro-Ukraine," Musk wrote on Twitter.
Ukraine's outgoing ambassador to Germany, Andrei Melnik, had a sharp response to Musk's peace plan.
Melnik himself faced criticism in July for his defense of controversial Ukrainian nationalist World War II leader Stepan Bandera.
"Damn it is a very diplomatic response to you, Elon Musk," Melnick wrote on Twitter.