Day 563: Elon Musk Calls For Russia And Ukraine To Agree To A Truce
Musk admits he refused to activate Starlinks in Crimea stating he did not wish to escalate a war that had already been escalated
We must differentiate between what is an attack and what is defensive before we can even talk about a truce. Russia invaded Ukraine, and Ukraine is defending itself but is not attacking Russia. The rules of warfare permit a party to destroy military targets as a defensive action, therefore, as long as Ukraine only target military targets, then they are no attacking Russia.
Therefore, you cannot have a truce when one side is attacking and the other is defending itself. Musk is entitled to an opinion, but it is ill conceived with little knowledge of warfare, or perhaps he is pro-Putin? His idea was that Ukraine should give up Crimea (and other occupied regions) for peace. Isn’t that what Putin wants? We have seen how people in the occupied areas have been treated—made homeless, forced to take Russian passports or have medicines withheld, men forced to fight for Russia, people taken prisoner, children deported, others tortured and killed. Surely the people have a right to decide rather than a rich businessman?
What is the actual story behind the Starlinks being switched off? Musk said they were never activated so they couldn’t be deactivated. However, another source claims that Musk asked the engineers to deactivate the link to Sevastopol. Why wouldn’t the satellites be active across the region as Crimea is Ukrainian according to the UN and the rest of the world (bar Russia, Belarus and probably Syria and North Korea).
The invasion was already taking place and the American Viasat satellites being used had been disabled due to a Russian cyberattack. Ukraine (the then Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov) then requested that the Starlink satellites be activated, asking Musk for help. He declined and said that he believed that if he had done so he would have been ‘complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation’, as the Ukrainian drones were targeting Russian vessels that were attacking them. His justification is that activation would have led to the deaths of Russian soldiers who were the attackers. Basically, he has stated that he has taken sides, and that he is pro-Russian, although he claims he doesn’t want any humans killed. Well, you know, Russia shouldn’t have invaded and attacked an innocent country then…
“There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol. The obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor. If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.”
There are several issues with his statement, mainly that the war was already in full flow, and as we know, people use the word escalation when they don’t want to do something, or if they want to blame a party for an act they don’t agree with. Secondly, is it a major act of war when Ukraine was already using satellites from another company? An act of war is an attack, and Ukraine was defending its land, so it was not an act of war.
Fedorov later stated that he requested Musk to turn on the communications back on, as Musk had told him that he had switched them off. Fedorov, late thanked Musk for his assistance.
What we are discovering is that there are people making poor decisions (who perhaps shouldn’t be in those positions) that are affecting the war. We know that Russia (and China) don’t adhere to any protocols and agreements signed (Russia has violated the UN Charter and nothing has been done, and look at the Budapest Memorandum and Minsk Protocols, both that have been ignored), therefore, another truce would have no meaning and in unenforceable.
Any ceasefire or truce would mean the allies would stop supporting Ukraine with weapons, and that would leave Ukraine as sitting ducks. It would enable Russia and Belarus to regroup and so a ceasefire would serve no purpose to ending the war. In simple terms, Russia must leave Ukraine for the war to end. If that means that Russia must be defeated, then that is what must happen. Negotiations are not possible with Russia under the current government. That is to say, while Putin is in power, there can be no credible talks or negotiations.
Musk is naive if he thinks giving up Crimea will end the war, for Russia has occupied other regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol and parts of Kherson and Melitopol), and they currently seek to occupy Bakhmut and other regions. Putin has already stated that the special military operation is to overthrown the Kyiv administration in order to free the Ukrainians, so Putin will continue to invade Ukraine until he has seized the entire country
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A leaked UN communication states that the UN is willing to concede to some of Russia’s demands in order to reinstate the Black Sea grain deal. The UN has no power to do this without a meeting of all the other member states, especially when it involves the lifting of sanctions, and permitting faster exports of Russian commodities. The UN have not denied the existence of the communication, and one wonders how they can try and spin this by abusing their powers?
Among the criteria listed, it would include UN paid for protection for Russian vessels against Ukrainian attacks, and creating a subdivision of the Russian Agrarian Bank in order to use SWIFT to process transactions, making sanctions redundant. Why can’t the UN provide protection for Ukrainian vessels against Russian attacks?
So, within the last 48 hours, we find that Musk and the UN are making decisions that affect the future of Ukraine, and the lives of millions. The majority of the world is united in supporting Ukraine in its fight to retain their independence and democracy, but are being hindered by parties who seek profits and make decisions based on their own interests (the UN has a world food program that it is concerned about).
Day 563 (9 September)
Elon Musk has publicly stated that he did not permit the activation of the Starlink satellites because he didn’t want humans to be killed and believed that would be the case. He also stated that the sides should call a truce, although one is attacking and the other is defending. Musk fails to acknowledge that Russian acts of aggression are war crimes, while Ukraine has defended itself from the attacks. Later, he quoted the terms of using Starlinks in that they cannot be used for offensive military purposes, yet it is accepted that they are being used by the Ukrainian army to communicate and for other operations. Defensive operations are not offensive actions.
Many analysts have stated that Musk has interfered in the war and his decisions have cost lives. Ukraine has stated it was a mistake that cost lives of many Ukrainians as during this period, Ukraine did not have air defence systems. Only the Russians and Russian sympathisers think that Musk is a hero. I doubt the people who died or who were injured as a result of the Russian missiles (as Ukraine could not launch their drones in order to stop them) being launched would agre
Others have concerns about Musk’s version of events and suggest a congressional inquiry. The point is that Musk appears to have too much power over matters that concern the world, and Starlinks is still paid for by other sources that Musk should be answerable to.
Yesterday, the Russian attacks continued in Sumy, Kryvvi Rih, and Zaporizhzia.
The UN has secretly offered Russia a deal to resume the Black Sea Grain Initiative which would include protection of Russian vessels (backed by the UN), permitting a state bank to resume SWIFT transactions through a loophole, permits Russian exports to EU ports, and to help relates frozen assets in EU states of Russian fertiliser companies. All thee things Guterres has ‘promised’ without any transparency and without consulting UN member states who have imposed sanctions.
The UN confirmed the story to Reuters and has not denied the existence of such a communication. What it shows is UN weakness and that they are putting their needs ahead of the need to support Ukraine. As I said before, all they care about is grain for their food programs.
The Japanese Foreign Minister, Hayashi Yoshimasa has made an unannounced visit to Ukraine. This is his first visit and shows that the G7 is supporting Ukraine.
Boris Johnson arrived in Lviv for a visit as he continues his work to support Ukraine.
Former Wagner soldiers (who had been ex-convicts) have stated that they they had orders to kill civilians and admitted to killing women and children in Ukraine.
Russians nationals in Ukraine are helping the Russians by giving them information on where Ukrainian troops are. This is one of the main issues in Ukraine, where there are spies and Russian sympathisers as well as Russians living in Ukraine that are assisting the Russian invasion. Therefore, a ceasefire does no good while plots to overthrow Ukraine remain within the community.
Romania is feeling the effects of the war and is setting up shelters near the borders of Ukraine for their citizens. They will also participate in the ‘Sea Breeze 23.3’ exercises with Ukraine, the US, and 5 other countries in the Black Sea.
The G20 summit has begun with a blank space on the draft declaration on Ukraine. Russia appeared to have objections.