President Zelensky has hit back at Elon Musk after he set up a Twitter poll on annexed areas of Ukraine.
The Tesla billionaire took to Twitter to weigh in on the row on how to end Russia's war with Ukraine.
The 51-year-old suggested the United Nations should be in charge of elections in the four occupied regions that Russia has annexed after their recent illegal referendums.
Western governments and leaders across the world deemed the votes as illegal after they were criticised by Kyiv for being illegitimate.
Elon Musk wrote: “Russia leaves if that is will of the people."
The US mogul asked his Twitter to vote on his idea of whether Crimea, which was seized by Moscow in 2014, could be recognised as Russia - if water supply to Crimea was guaranteed and Ukraine remained neutral.
Image:
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Even President Zelensky was forced to respond with his own poll.
He Tweeted: "“Which @elonmusk do you like more?" as he offered two options.
"The one who supports Ukraine, or the one that supports Russia?" as thousands voted in the poll to offer their support to Ukraine.
Mykhaylo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential aide to President Zelensky, said there needed to be a "better peace plan" in place which includes Ukraine taking back its annexed territories - including Crimea.
The plan would include Russia giving up their military and nuclear weapons. He also said Moscow's "war criminals" should face an international tribunal.
Whilst another leader Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine's outgoing ambassador to Germany, offered a more brutal response to Elon Musk's ideas.
He tweeted: "F**k off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk."
The Tesla's idea drew criticism from European leaders across the spectrum including Lithuania's president, Gitanas Nausėda.
The president tweeted in response: “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 favour of it. Just saying,”
The chief executive of SpaceX tried tweeting again and opted for another poll to gauge the reaction of his followers.
He said: “Let’s try this then: the will of the people who live in the Donbas & Crimea should decide whether they’re part of Russia or Ukraine.”
Elon argued if his ideas were unpopular he wouldn't care as long as there was a solution to the war.
He said: "Millions of people may die needlessly for an essentially identical outcome."
Elon Musk has previously tweeted about Ukraine and offered support to an official earlier this year.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February led to their internet being disrupted which saw a Ukrainian government official asking for help on Twitter.
Elon Musk responded and said his SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband service could be used in the country.
He said he would get SpaceX to send more terminals to help support Ukraine.
