Billionaire Elon Musk says Russia won't lose in Ukraine, opposes aid to Kyiv

The US Senate on February 13 passed a bill providing new aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as other spending, totaling $95.34 billion, even though the bill is likely to fail to pass the US House of Representatives.

Reuters reported that the vote in the US Senate was 70 votes in favor - 29 votes against, exceeding the minimum threshold of 60 votes to pass the bill. Of which, 22 Republican senators along with most Democratic senators supported the bill.

"It's certainly been years, perhaps decades, since the Senate passed a bill that has such a major impact not only on our national security, not only on the security of our allies, but on the security of Western democracy," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

Both houses of Congress must approve the bill before President Joe Biden can sign it into law. But Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the bill for lacking provisions that conservatives wanted to include to stem the flow of migrants across the US-Mexico border.

President Biden has been pressing Congress for months to quickly provide new aid to Ukraine and U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific. After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 and fighting broke out in Gaza, Biden also requested funding for Washington’s ally Israel, in addition to humanitarian aid for the Palestinians.

Ukrainian officials have also warned of weapons shortages at a time when Russia is pushing for new attacks.

The bill includes $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, $14 billion in aid to Israel in its fight against Hamas, and $4.83 billion to support partners in the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan. The bill also provides $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine, and other conflict zones around the world.

A day before the bill passed the US Senate, billionaire Elon Musk told Republican politicians that there was “no way” Russian President Vladimir Putin could lose the war in Ukraine, while opposing continued US aid to Kyiv.

American billionaire Elon Musk

“This spending is not helping Ukraine. Prolonging the war is not helping Ukraine,” Musk said during a discussion with several Republican senators on X Spaces, a platform owned by social network X (formerly Twitter), according to Bloomberg. He also said he hoped Americans would reach out to their elected representatives to express their views on the bill to support Ukraine.

The billionaire has previously expressed similar views on X, despite his company Starlink providing satellite internet service to Ukraine since the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in February 2022. Mr. Musk doubted Ukraine's ability to win the war, while also mocking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's repeated appeals to the United States and other Western countries for aid, which drew criticism from Kyiv and Democratic members of the US Congress.

At the event on February 12, Mr. Musk, the world's richest man, also said that President Putin is under pressure to pursue the war in Ukraine to the end. "If he backs down, he will be assassinated," the billionaire said.

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