Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and US navy pilot, visited Ukraine during the weekend. Ukraine has been battling a Russian invasion for more than three years. This was Mark Kelly’s third visit to Kyiv since 2023 earlier this month, meeting with wounded service members and Ukrainian officials.
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Elon Musk vs Mark Kelly
Mark Kelly’s trip comes at a time when President Donald Trump is seeking a quick end to the conflict, and upending US foreign policy with his pivot to Moscow and pause of US military aid to Kyiv.
“Just left Ukraine. What I saw proved to me we can’t give up on the Ukrainian people. Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Kelly said on social media platform X.
“Donald Trump is trying to weaken Ukraine’s hand and we are owed an explanation,” Kelly added in another post about his visit. Elon Musk was quick enough to respond to this. Musk, the world’s richest person and Trump’s top campaign donor, responded to Kelly on X by saying, “You are a traitor.”ALSO READ: After White House showdown, US and Ukraine start talks to end war as Russia launches huge drone attack
Kelly hit back, writing: “Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”
This comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk clashed with Poland’s foreign minister over the use of the tech billionaire’s Starlink satellite internet system in Ukraine.
Musk said on X that Ukraine’s “entire front line” would collapse if he turned the system off. Radoslaw Sikorski responded, saying his country paid for its use in Ukraine and a threat to shut it down would result in a search for another network.
Rubio dismissed Sikorski’s claims and told him to be grateful, while Musk called him a “small man”. The exchange appeared to lead to Polish PM Donald Tusk calling on his country’s allies to show respect for their weaker partners, rather than arrogance.
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US, Ukraine starts talks to end war
Ukraine and the United States began talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday with a partial ceasefire with Russia on the table, after Trump re-established contact with Putin and ramped up pressure on Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war — without offering the security guarantees Kyiv wants.
Kelly later described SpaceX boss Musk to reporters as “not a serious guy. He should go back to building rockets,” according to NBC.
California Senator Adam Schiff threw his support behind fellow Democrat Kelly.
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“Mark Kelly is a retired Navy pilot, astronaut, and dedicated public servant. He is a hero. Elon Musk is a self-absorbed coward. Hope that clears things up,” Schiff said on X.
Republican congressman Don Bacon also weighed in.
“It’s not decent, it’s not right… I don’t agree with Senator Kelly on some things, but we don’t call each other a traitor, and I think it reflects bad on the White House,” he told CNN correspondent Manu Raju.
(With AFP inputs)
