Elon Musk has urged Republican senators to oppose a Ukraine aid bill on the eve of a critical vote because “there is no way in hell” that Vladimir Putin could lose the war.

Speaking ahead of a Senate vote on a £75 billion ($95 billion) spending package, which included £47.6 billion ($60 billion) for Ukraine, Musk rubbished the proposition claiming “this spending does not help Ukraine”.

The bill passed in the early hours of Tuesday morning with 70 votes to 29, after an all-night session which saw 22 Republicans vote with their Democrat peers to approve the aid.

It now faces an uphill battle in the House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson has already denounced the legislation.

Musk discussed the proposed bill on X Spaces, part of his social media platform formerly known as Twitter, with Republican senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and JD Vance of Ohio, both of whom are sympathetic to Donald Trump.

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, tipped as Mr Trump’s possible vice president, also took part in the discussion along with David Sacks, a former PayPal entrepreneur and close friend of Musk.

Musk’s comments are his latest intervention into politics, as he increasingly leans towards the Republicans in what could have major implications for the election and the war in Ukraine.

Mr Musk agreed with Mr Johnson that anyone who expected victory for Ukraine is “living in a fantasy world”, before urging “we gotta kill this thing [the bill]”.

“This spending does not help Ukraine”, said Musk, adding: “Prolonging the war does not help Ukraine.”

Musk said he hoped Americans would contact their elected representatives about the bill.

He said losing lives in a war “must be for a purpose” and “not just a mile here, a mile there”, before adding: “there is no way in hell that Putin is going to lose.”

The Tesla billionaire also suggested that if Putin backed off from the war then “he would be assassinated” and it could lead to an even more “hardcore” replacement.

Meanwhile, Musk denounced accusations that he is a Putin apologist as “absurd”, arguing that his companies “have probably done more to undermine Russia than anything”.

His firm, SpaceX, has provided Starlink internet service to Ukraine and the firm has also detracted business from Russia’s space launch industry.

Ukraine claimed this week that Russia has skirted sanctions to supply Starlink to its troops on the frontline, a potentially game-changing development.

Kyiv’s military claimed the receiver terminals are being supplied via “Arab countries”.

Last week Putin referred to Musk as a “smart person” during his controversial sit-down with former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson.

Responding later to a Tweet from a Washington Post columnist who criticised Musk’s call to action as “shameful”, he said: “There has been no change in the Russia-Ukraine border for a year, just lots of dead kids.

“What kind of psycho wants that to continue?”

It comes as Democrats face the challenge of trying to get the House to vote on the bill, which would also provide £11 billion ($14 billion) for Israel and almost £8 billion ($10 billion) for humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Palestinians in Gaza. 

Mr Johnson on Monday night preemptively rejected the bill because of its failure to address border security, despite Mr Johnson playing a crucial role in helping reject an earlier version of the legislation that included sweeping immigration reforms.

The previous bill had been denounced by Donald Trump on social media who called it a “death wish” for the GOP.

The Democrats could launch a discharge petition to get the bill onto the House floor if they can gather at least four signatures from Republicans.

Once in the House, the bill will face an uncertain future amid Republican opposition and the frustration of some progressive Democrats who oppose funding to Israel.