Elon Musk provided the Ukrainians with the Starlink internet connection, which is run by his rocket company SpaceX, shortly after Russia invaded their country.

That said, Mr. Musk's comments on Friday that his company could not 'indefinitely' fund Ukraine's use of Starlink—which has grown to be essential for the Ukrainian Army's communication as it advances into territory occupied by Russia and defends against ongoing Russian attacks—landed the world's richest man in the middle of an international uproar—led to criticism from around the world.

Following CNN's revelation that SpaceX had written to the Pentagon last month requesting that it assume responsibility for the funding of Ukraine's use of Starlink, Mr. Musk made his remarks on Twitter. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, over 20,000 Starlink terminals—which were intended to function with satellites orbiting in space to give online access—have been sent to the country. Mr. Musk discussed the challenges of funding the programme but left out mentioning the Pentagon. 'SpaceX is not seeking to recover past expenditures, but it also cannot fund the current system indefinitely. ''

The issue was just another controversy sparked by Mr. Musk, 51, who has evolved into an unlikely provocateur in global geopolitics and sparked outcry for how it would weaken Ukrainian forces. The billionaire, who is in charge of Tesla and other businesses, is already involved in a number of public controversies, including a will-he-won't-he $44 billion offer to acquire Twitter.

A week ago, Mr. Musk made comments about Starlink that attracted a stern reprimand from Ukrainian leaders for suggesting a peace plan to end the war that entailed relinquishing territory to Russia. In an interview with The Financial Times last week, he also advocated giving Beijing some sovereignty over Taiwan in order to ease tensions between China and Taiwan.