Susan Walsh/AP
- Elon Musk recently spoke with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider’s parent company, Axel Springer.
- Musk talked about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying, “We cannot let Putin take over Ukraine.”
- “It is important to do something serious,” he added.
After challenging Vladimir Putin to a fight for the fate of Ukraine last week, Elon Musk is renewing his calls for Russia’s president to be stopped.
“We cannot let Putin take over Ukraine,” Musk said. “This is crazy.”
Musk’s comments came during a recent interview with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider’s parent company, Axel Springer, at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Berlin, which opened on Tuesday. He spoke about a variety of topics, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
More than 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes by Russia’s invasion since it began a month ago. More than 3.7 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Musk said it was “surprising” to see such a war take place “in this day and age.”
“I thought we had sort of moved beyond such things for the most part,” he said. “It is concerning. If you can get away with it, then this will be a message to other countries that perhaps they could get away with it too.”
Musk also discussed the US government’s response to the invasion.
“I think the American government has done more than people may realize,” he said. “But it has just not been very public. But it is important to do something serious.”
President Biden last week announced another $800 million in military aid for Ukraine, bringing the total US security assistance committed to the country to $1 billion in a week. He said the package includes “our most cutting-edge systems,” including 20 million rounds of ammunition, 800 anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 anti-armor systems, and 7,000 small arms like machine guns, grenade launchers, pistols, and shotguns.
Biden also warned Russia on Thursday that the US and NATO “would respond” if Putin uses chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The US has accused Russia of committing “indiscriminate attacks” on civilians and “other atrocities” in Ukraine. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, “Based on the information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members Russia’s forces are committing war crimes in Ukraine.”
In his strongest condemnation yet of Putin, Biden on Wednesday called the Russian president a war criminal.
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