Musk makes Ukraine conflict prediction

The tech tycoon was reportedly on a phone call between Vladimir Zelensky and Donald Trump

Elon Musk has suggested that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be over soon and that the clock is ticking for those who sought to profit from it.

The owner of X was a major ally of US President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign. On Friday, he reportedly took part in a phone call between Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, according to several US outlets.

“The senseless killing will end soon. Time is up for the warmonger profiteers,” Musk posted on X later in the day. He did not confirm or deny the reporting about his role on the call.

His post was in reply to a claim by prolific X commentator Mario Nawfal, about “Trump’s plan for Ukraine.”

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According to Nawfal, Trump “reportedly plans an 800-mile demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, with British and European troops patrolling the area. Under the proposal, Russia would retain its territorial gains, and Ukraine would agree not to join NATO for 20 years.” He cited Newsweek as the source.

Newsweek, however, merely repeated anonymous speculation reported earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal – the same newspaper that had accused Musk of “secret communications” with the Kremlin, which both he and Russia denied as fake news.

The Journal said that one of the many ideas being proposed within Trump’s transition team involved Kiev promising not to join NATO for 20 years in exchange for the US continuing to “pump Ukraine full of weapons.”

Under that supposed plan, the front line would be frozen in place and both sides would agree to an 800-mile (1,290km) demilitarized zone. A peacekeeping force would be deployed to this DMZ, but would not involve either Americans or UN blue helmets, according to “three people close to the president-elect.”

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“We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European,” a member of Trump’s team reportedly told the WSJ. “We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”

Parts of the rumored proposal sound vaguely similar to what Trump’s running mate, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, suggested during a podcast in mid-September.

However, the Journal quoted a former National Security Council aide from Trump’s first term as saying that anyone claiming to have a “more detailed window into his plans on Ukraine simply doesn’t know what he or she is talking about.”