Trump Ordered Musk to Restore Starlink Access in Ukraine Amid Russian Strikes: Report

US President Donald Trump called SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last week and asked him to restore Ukraine’s full access to the Starshield satellite communications network, The New York Times reported, citing sources. The call came after Ukrainian officials said they were facing new limits on their ability to operate military drones.

THE WSJ REPORT AND THE DENIALS

On October 21, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had directed an intentional slowdown of the military Starlink network Ukraine relies on, which alarmed Kyiv and left the Trump administration bewildered.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that the US had ordered any reduction or restriction. “We haven’t pulled anything back,” he told reporters. “Nothing’s changed from our view. We haven’t made any directives or anything like that.” He said any operational changes would fall under the provider’s terms of service, adding that “that’s where Starlink has the option to make those decisions.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also denied any US involvement, saying Starlink is a commercial product and is not run by the White House. He drew a line between the two systems. Starlink is a commercial service operated by SpaceX. Starshield is controlled by the US government.

RUBIO: ‘IT IS NOT AVAILABLE TO UKRAINE’

“Starshield is a defence and military product; that is something that the United States military uses,” Rubio said. “It is not available to Ukraine, and it is under discussion how they want to use it.” He said that in the US “nobody ordered that Starlink’s speed be slowed down,” and that as he understands it, it has been restored.

He also said Ukraine wants Starshield “in order to conduct deep strikes inside Russia” and does not have access to it now. The report that someone at the White House ordered the slowdown so that certain drones couldn’t use the internet was, he said, “categorically false.” He added: “I don’t know if Zelenskyy knows what he is talking about.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has raised concerns about disruptions to satellite connectivity that affected Ukraine’s military operations.

PUTIN: READY FOR TRILATERAL TALKS

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is still ready to negotiate. In an interview with the journalist Pavel Zarubin, he said that after his extensive talks with US negotiator Steve Witkoff, the two sides had agreed to resume trilateral contacts.

Their goal, he said, would be to discuss security for Ukraine and Russia after a final peace agreement, “not as a result of a brief suspension of hostilities.”

“I think we can reach an agreement,” he said. “But if someone wants it differently, fine, it will be different. But in any case, we will achieve our objectives, and all the goals of the special military operation will be achieved.”

With inputs from ANI