World leaders have criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for his decision to launch an invasion of Ukraine. But Elon Musk has another way to get Putin's attention by challenging him to a one-on-one fight.
"I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to a one-on-one fight. The stakes are Ukraine," Musk said in a tweet that wrote Putin's and Ukraine's names in Cyrillic, as quoted by USA Today, Tuesday (15/3/2022).
In a subsequent tweet, Musk also wrote a message in Russian and tagged the Kremlin's official Twitter account. "Do you agree with this fight? @KremlinRussia_E?" Musk wrote.
I hereby challenge
адимир
to single combat
Stakes are аїна
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022
When asked by one of his followers, Musk admitted that he was serious about this challenge. Musk then hit back at another Twitter user who said Putin could win the fight easily because he was trained in self-defense.
"If Putin could humiliate the west so easily, then he would accept this challenge. But he won't," Musk retorted.
He also agreed with a follower's prediction that Musk could beat Putin because he is taller and younger.
Pretty much
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022
Several Ukrainian leaders welcomed Musk's tweet, including Vitali Klitschko, a former boxer who currently serves as Kyiv Mayor. Klitschko was previously determined to go head-to-head against Russia.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov also expressed his support for the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla via Twitter. "I'm sure that @elonmusk can send Putin to Jupiter," Fedorov said.
But not everyone was happy about Musk's comments. The head of the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) Dmitry Rogozin responded by calling Musk a weakling and a petty devil.
"You little devil, you are still young, compete with me weaklings. It will only be a waste of time. Fight my brother first," Rogozin said in reply to a tweet to Musk.