Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has suggested recent tweets by Elon Musk mocking Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky are “unhelpful”.

The senior Cabinet minister made the comments at a Conservative Party conference fringe event in Manchester, hours after the billionaire entrepreneur used Twitter, now known as X, to take aim at Mr Zelensky’s repeated requests for western support in the battle against Russian troops.

Mr Shapps, an avid social media user himself, expressed reservations about the owner of X’s recent attitudes to the war.

“I think it’s unhelpful, to be blunt,” he said.

“I can’t speak for him or his motivations. He’s a free individual, we live in a free world. He can tweet or X what he likes.”

“What Ukraine really needs is strong and steady friends who won’t waver,” he added.

The mockery by Mr Musk has gone down badly in Ukraine, making it the latest controversial outburst by the high-profile businessman.