by Danny KEMP
Elon Musk attacked Volodymyr Zelensky Thursday, saying Ukrainians "despised" their president and that U.S. leader Donald Trump was right to leave him out of talks with Russia aimed at ending the Ukraine war.
The comments by the tech tycoon, who is leading Trump's huge US government overhaul, came as the White House told Zelensky to stop "insults" against Trump and sign a minerals deal with Washington.
SpaceX and Tesla boss Musk launched into a tirade against Zelensky on his X social network, accusing him without evidence of running a "massive graft machine feeding off the dead bodies of Ukrainian soldiers."
"He knows he would lose in a landslide, despite having seized control of ALL Ukrainian media, so he canceled the election. In reality, he is despised by the people of Ukraine," Musk wrote.
The world's richest person was supporting Trump, who has given falsely low figures for Zelensky's approval ratings and pushed for him to hold elections -- and in the process echoing the Kremlin's talking points on Ukraine.
Musk struck a calmer tone at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) later Thursday, saying that Trump was "so pragmatic" about the Ukraine war.
"The president has a lot of empathy. He really cares," said Musk.
Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term but Ukraine has postponed elections due to martial law imposed following Russia's 2022 invasion of its pro-Western neighbor.
Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz separately urged Zelensky to cool his criticism of Trump amid a growing war of words with the US president.
"Some of the rhetoric coming out of Kyiv, frankly, and insults to President Trump were unacceptable," Waltz told a briefing at the White House to mark Trump's first month in office.
Trump accused Ukraine on Tuesday of having started the war, and doubled down on Wednesday by branding Zelensky a "dictator without elections."
Zelensky has complained at being left out of US talks with Russia aimed at ending the war, following Trump's shock phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
He has also rejected a deal that would give the US access to vast amounts of Ukrainian natural resources as the new president insists on getting a return on American aid.
Zelensky, who met US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, has warned that Trump is living in a Russian "disinformation" bubble.
Waltz pushed Ukraine to accept the minerals deal, saying it was a "historic opportunity... for America to co-invest with Ukraine in their minerals."
But he skirted the question when asked who he thought was responsible for the war, and whether he viewed Putin as a dictator.
Trump was "focused on the fighting and moving forward, and we could argue all day long about what's happened in the past," Waltz said.
Earlier Waltz had told Fox News that the Ukrainians "need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal."
He also denied that Ukraine has been cut out of Trump's talks with Russia over ending the war, insisting that there was "plenty of engagement and dialogue" with Kyiv as well as European allies.
"This is a common sense plan. They may not like it but we're going to drive it forward and everybody will stop squawking when the fighting ends," Waltz said.
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the White House on Monday followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the briefing.
Both leaders have suggested sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers in the event of a deal.
"We welcome that," Waltz told the briefing, before adding that Washington had "made it clear for years, decades even" that it could not bear the financial burden for defending Europe.
"It's time for our European allies to step up," he added.
© Agence France-Presse