Elon Musk has indicated that the Starlink satellite internet will no longer be provided to Ukraine because the ambassador cursed at him.
The news comes days after Ukrainian ambassador Andrij Melnyk slammed the 51-year-old SpaceX founder's proposal that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could be ended by "re-doing elections under UN supervision" in regions annexed illegally by Russia, per CNN.
On October 14, Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post journalist Jason Jay Smart wrote on Twitter that Starlink had announced that it can "no longer afford to give Ukraine free service" and "asks the Pentagon to pay for it" because Melnyk told Musk to "f*** off".
In response, the Tesla CEO wrote that he was "just following [the] recommendation" of the ambassador - seemingly suggesting the reason why he pulled out his satellite.
Check out the tweets below:Musk's Starlink had been a crucial source of communication for Ukraine's military with around 20,000 donated - at a cost of "$80 million and will exceed $100 million by the end of the year," per the tech mogul.
According to CNN, SpaceX asked that the Pentagon pay for Ukraine's use of Starlink - which could amass close to $120 million for the rest of the year.
"We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time," SpaceX's director of government sales wrote to the Pentagon in September, per the outlet.
"SpaceX faces terribly difficult decisions here. I do not think they have the financial ability to provide any additional terminals or service as requested by General [Valerii] Zaluzhniy [Ukraine’s commanding general]," an external consultant added.
The United States has already spent more than 1,330 terminals from the spacecraft manufacturer to send to Ukraine, with SpaceX itself contributing 3,670 terminals - which also come with three months of unlimited data.
However, tensions could now escalate after Musk offered "peace" solutions to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war on October 3, writing: "Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is the will of the people."
"Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake). Water supply to Crimea assured. - Ukraine remains neutral," he also wrote in the same post.
He then explained his thoughts under a thread, writing: "This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end - just a question of how many die before then," adding, "Also worth noting that a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome from this conflict is nuclear war."
However, Melnyk shot back at the CEO's poll, tweeting, "F*** off is my very diplomatic reply to you Elon Musk," and in another tweet, the diplomat said: "The only outcome is that now no Ukrainian will EVER buy your f...ing tesla crap. So good luck to you."
The world's richest man's poll also got the attention of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who shared a Twitter poll of his own. He asked his followers which Musk they preferred: "One who supports Ukraine" or "One who supports Russia."
The business magnate later responded that he "very much" supports Ukraine but is "convinced" that a "massive escalation of the war" will cause more harm to the country.