Elon Musk has clearly learned how to play politics.

When Trump called for Ukraine to remove Zelenskyy and choose a new leader, Musk quickly echoed the sentiment in a post: “Zelenskyy has gone too far.”

Trump warned Zelenskyy against targeting Russian oil refineries, but his warning was ignored.

It was only then that Trump issued a stronger statement.

Musk operates at the operational level.

However, Ukrainian officials deny that Starlink holds life-or-death power. Ukrainian forces have conducted strikes on Russian oil refineries without using Starlink, as the system cannot function effectively over Russian airspace.

Ukrainian authorities argue that if Musk were to shut down Starlink to express dissatisfaction with Zelenskyy, the resulting deaths of thousands of frontline soldiers would be directly attributed to Musk, severely damaging SpaceX’s international reputation. This would signal to the world that the system cannot be relied upon during genuine crises. Conversely, such a move would have no impact on Ukraine’s ability to strike Russia’s energy infrastructure.

In other words, even if Musk makes a decision most detrimental to Ukraine, it would not end the war.

Conversely, if Ukraine continues its attacks on Russian oil refineries, it risks inadvertently pushing Russia further toward Trump’s camp.

Zelenskyy may now need to carefully assess Trump’s shift—from open opposition to Ukraine to overt support for Russia.

Without U.S. intelligence support, it remains uncertain whether European contributions can fully fill the gap, a question that will ultimately require real-world testing.

Yet this also reveals the tangible pressure high diesel prices are exerting on Trump and Republican lawmakers ahead of the midterm elections.

The prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict has ultimately evolved into a struggle between the leaders of the United States and Ukraine over political survival—a scenario few anticipated.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878743954967556/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.