マスク氏、プーチン氏に「決闘挑む」　ウクライナ懸け

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】世界一の富豪で実業家のイーロン・マスク氏は１４日、ツイッターへの投稿で、ロシアのウラジーミル・プーチン大統領に対し、ウクライナを懸けた決闘を申し込んだ。（写真はイーロン・マスク氏）
　宇宙開発企業スペースＸ創設者のマスク氏は以前から、ツイッター上での奇抜な投稿で知られている。今回の投稿では、「私はここにて、ウラジーミル・プーチン氏に決闘を挑む。懸けるのはウクライナだ」と表明。プーチン氏の公式英語アカウントに対し、ロシア語で「この決闘を受け入れるか？」と問い掛けた。
　自身のフォロワーから、真剣に考えた上での投稿ではないのではと問われると、「完全に真剣だ」と回答した。ロシア政府からの反応は今のところない。
　マスク氏はすでにウクライナへの支援を表明しており、また「これ（戦争）を望まない偉大なロシア人には同情を表明する」ともツイッターに投稿している。スペースＸは、インターネット通信衛星「スターリンク」の端末を同国に送り、ロシア軍の攻撃を受けている地域にネット接続環境を提供している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/03/15-13:40）

Put up your dukes, Vlad.
Elon Musk, the world's richest man, on Monday challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a fight, with nothing less than the fate of Ukraine, scene of Moscow's brutal invasion, at stake.
The eccentric billionaire and founder of aerospace company SpaceX took to Twitter, where his messages are notoriously erratic, to see whether the Russian leader would test his mettle in person rather than through his country's forces.
I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat. Stakes are Ukraine, said Musk.
Do you accept this fight? he added in Russian, directly addressing the official English-language Twitter account of the 69-year-old president.
When one of Musk's 77 million followers wrote that the Tesla founder might not have thought his challenge through, Musk said he was absolutely serious.
If Putin could so easily humiliate the west, then he would accept the challenge. But he will not, he added.
There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin, but Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted a mocking response on Telegram, saying: Elon Musk: I wouldn't advise you to test your strength against Putin.
Your weight categories are too different, said Kadyrov.
The South African-born Musk, 50, had already offered his support for Kyiv, tweeting Hold strong Ukraine this month while also offering my sympathies to the great people of Russia, who do not want this war.
He also responded to a Kyiv plea by activating the Starlink internet service in Ukraine and sending equipment to help bring connectivity to areas hit by Russian military attacks.
Musk often raises eyebrows on Twitter. In February, he accused the US stock market regulator, which had imposed fines and restrictions on Musk and Tesla, of trying to muzzle his free speech.
And he compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler in a message supporting opponents of Covid restrictions. He later deleted the post.