Alwaght- Elon Musk says he thinks that as the war goes on in Ukraine, the Russians will "certainly gain more land than they have today."
He made the comment when he answered a question on X platform.
Replying to a post on X, formerly Twitter, about the war, Musk said: "It was a tragic waste of life for Ukraine to attack a larger army that had defense in depth, minefields and stronger artillery when Ukraine lacked armor or air superiority! Any fool could have predicted that."
He said he recommended to Kiev last year that it should focus on pushing back the advancing Russian forces and defend its remaining territory rather than attacking the Russian cities.
He even warned Ukraine of losing the Balak Sea port city of Odessa if peace is not reached. This could see Ukraine losing access to the Black Sea.
"I recommend a negotiated settlement before that happens," he said.
Ukraine lost Crimea to Russia in 2014 following a referendum that saw ethnic Russians voting to join Russian Federation.
The annexation of Crimea followed a coup supported by the West that removed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The coup sparked a civil war in the east that led to practical separation of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Also in September 2022 referbdum, Russia annexed eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. The West called the referendum "staged", but Moscow argued that the ethnic Russians of eastern Ukraine chose with their own free will to be part of Russia.