Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the U.S. to restore Ukraine's full access to the Starlink and Starshield satellite network, close to a week after Ukrainian troops first reported speed limits on drones zipping toward Russian targets.
Zelensky said on Tuesday he had a "substantive" conversation with Rubio, focused on Kyiv's critical shortages of interceptor missiles needed to take out Russian ballistic missiles, Starlink and Starshield speeds and warnings for when Russia is launching missiles at the war-torn country.
Ukrainian drone pilots suddenly discovered last week their unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could only fly at up to half their previous speeds, hampering their ability to take out Russian logistics, munitions depots and command-and-control centers up to 125 miles from the front line before Moscow shot them down.
Ukrainian officials quickly said their connection to Elon Musk's Starshield network, Starlink's military-grade sister service, had been curbed.
Alongside this, Kyiv said it hadn't received the usual intelligence data on often devastating Russian ballistic missile onslaughts leveled at its major cities.
Newsweek has reached out to the State Department for comment.
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Although Zelensky said on Sunday intelligence flows had resumed, the two near-simultaneous drops in vital U.S. services in Ukraine were an uncomfortable reminder of how much Kyiv depends on the U.S. to fight Russia, even when President Donald Trump and his administration openly criticize the Ukrainian leader and relations are at their most strained.
Rubio denied the U.S. paused intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, and said the U.S. government wasn't responsible for the Starlink and Starshield restrictions.
But Musk, meanwhile, said Starshield systems are "owned and controlled" by the U.S. government, meaning "any limits on speed or usage" are dictated by the U.S. military, and, ultimately, the U.S. president.
Anonymous U.S. officials told Reuters last week the Pentagon received a message from inside the White House, saying Starshield speed should be limited for the Ukrainian military.
American systems are the main way Ukraine can get advanced notice of Russia's ballistic missile launches. Although Kyiv didn't apportion blame directly over a lack of early warnings for missile strikes, Washington previously blocked Kyiv's access to U.S.-derived intelligence streams in early 2025 as the White House attempted to force progress in peace talks.
Zelensky said on Sunday the U.S. had sent a "message" by throttling Starshield and Starlink connections, while Trump has painted Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries as responsible for global fuel price increases, rather than the reverberations of the U.S. war in Iran.
There's currently no real alternative to Starshield or Starlink for Ukraine. Ukrainian forces mostly use the general Starlink network for communications and data transfers, rather than guiding strikes on the battlefield.
The Ukrainian leader had said on Monday Starshield speeds were still capped at some points along the front line and would be discussed with Ukrainian allies at "every level."
The former Starshield and Starlink setting "needs to be restored," Zelensky said on Tuesday, adding he felt his discussion with Rubio was "constructive."
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Robert Greenall and Daniel Orton