If Russia is threatened with the loss of the occupied Crimea, it will use nuclear weapons. Elon Musk wrote about this on Twitter.
“If Russia is faced with a choice: lose Crimea or use nuclear weapons on the battlefield, it will choose the latter. But hey, look on the bright side! At least in this scenario, Russia will not get Crimea, so you can take comfort in that thought as you watch the mushroom clouds rise.”
Musk also wrote that Crimea is critical to Russia's national security.
“Whether someone likes it or not, Crimea is perceived by Russia as an integral part. Crimea is also critical to Russia's national security, as it is its southern naval base. From their point of view, the loss of Crimea is like the loss of Hawaii and Pearl Harbor for the United States,” he writes.
Earlier, Musk tweeted a “peace plan to end the war,” according to which Ukraine should simply abandon the territories occupied by Russia. This tweet caused a great resonance in the Russian, Ukrainian and world media. Russian propaganda publications commented positively on Musk's proposal. At the same time, in the world and Ukrainian media, the tweets of the American inventor caused a wave of criticism, including from representatives of the Ukrainian authorities.
As Vice reported, Musk spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin before he tweeted "a plan to end the war." According to the publication, Musk told the American political scientist, head of the political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer, about the conversation. The latter publicized the conversation with Musk in a mailing to Eurasia Group clients — this mailing was referred to by Vice.
Bremmer's message says that, according to Musk, Putin is "ready for negotiations", but only if Crimea remains Russian, Ukraine will declare neutrality and recognize the annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
According to Bremmer, Putin told Musk these goals would be achieved "no matter what," including the possibility of a nuclear strike if Ukraine invaded Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Musk said in a conversation with a political scientist that "everything must be done to avoid such an outcome."
The conversation between Musk and Putin, or even such plans, has not been publicly reported anywhere.