Elon Musk was confronted by the president of a key member nation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after making a false claim about the military alliance amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Elon Musk on NATO

In a post on X on Saturday, Elon Musk pondered the continued existence of NATO following the dissolution of its Cold War-era counterpart, The Warsaw Pact. 

"I always wondered why NATO continued to exist even though its nemesis and reason to exist, The Warsaw Pact, had dissolved," the tech billionaire wrote.

However, critics swiftly pointed out the historical inaccuracy, saying that the Warsaw Pact, a coalition of the Soviet Union and its allies, was established in response to NATO, not vice versa, Newsweek reported.

Among those critics who slammed Musk's comment was Latvia's President Edgars Rinkēvičs, who wrote on X on Sunday: "Dear @elonmusk, the reason NATO was founded, exists and will last is Russia and other enemies of the free world."

Despite providing Ukraine with Starlink satellites to bolster communication early in the conflict, Musk's call for a peace deal that would likely surrender some Ukrainian territory to Russia and opposed aid for Ukraine has put him at odds with several world leaders who support the Eastern European nation against Russia's President Vladimir Putin's invasion.

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NATO Post of Elon Musk on X Receives a Community Note

Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov also commented on Elon Musk's post, saying, "1) 'NATO hostility' is Kremlin propaganda against a defensive alliance limiting its imperialist appetite. 2) Nations join NATO freely, for protection. 3) Putin himself has repeatedly refuted NATO as a motive for his invasion. 4) Ask the Baltics, Poland, new members Finland & Sweden - or ask Ukraine instead spreading BS."

The Tesla and SpaceX founder, who purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, was also hit by his own social media platform's community-based fact-checking system that reads, "The Warsaw pact was a reaction to NATO, not the other way around. NATO is a collective security system, not aimed at a single opponent, and has been active in Europe, Africa and Asia."

NATO, a military alliance between 31 nations, including Canada, the United States, and several European countries, was established in 1949 to offer collective security against the Soviet Union amid increasing tensions as the Cold War started. On the other hand, the Warsaw Pact was launched in 1955 in response to NATO.  

Article 5 in the Treaty of NATO states that if a NATO ally became a victim of an armed attack, it is considered an attack against all members and will "take the actions it deems necessary to assist the ally attacked."

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