The businessman’s proposal includes repeating the referendums in “the annexed regions” under the supervision of the UN, as well as considering that Crimea is part of Russia, among other points.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre declared on Tuesday that the US is not going to talk “about Ukraine without Ukraine”, commenting on the plan for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the country proposed the day before by the Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“We have been very clear about this. We are not going to talk about Ukraine without Ukraine,” the spokeswoman said when asked if the US Administration is concerned that the businessman “is spreading Russian propaganda “.
In this context, she stressed that the Ukrainian authorities must make any decision “when it comes to any diplomacy or negotiations.”
Musk’s initiative covers four fundamental points: repeat referendums in “the annexed regions” under UN supervision, accept that Crimea is part of Russia, guarantee water supply to the peninsula and maintain Ukraine’s neutral status. The businessman accompanied his plan with a survey on social networks, with the options of “yes” or “no”, and, surprisingly, the first was the most voted at the beginning, which caused suspicions about the possible intervention of a large number of ‘bots’ to influence the results. “Biggest ‘bot’ attack I’ve ever seen,” Musk himself said in response to a tweet on the subject.
Shortly after the publication of Musk’s tweets, several senior Ukrainian politicians spoke out against Musk’s proposal.