Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv would resume strikes on Russian refineries after Washington asked Ukraine to pause them, while Elon Musk said limits on Starshield and Starlink were set by the US military.
The dispute played out alongside renewed circulation on October 14 of a Truth Social post in which US President Donald Trump called Zelenskiy “a dictator without elections”. Trump published that post on February 19, 2025, not this week. In it, he called Zelenskiy “a modestly successful comedian”, claimed the US had spent $350bn on a war that could not be won and said Zelenskiy admitted half the money was “MISSING”. He also claimed the US spent $200bn more than Europe and warned: “Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”
The broadside lands days after Trump broke with Ukraine by saying on October 10 that it was time for it to get a new president. That followed his diesel deal with Vladimir Putin on October 9 to buy Russian fuel to bring down US pump prices. Washington wants Kyiv to stop hitting Russian refineries to make the deal work, and has offered nothing in return.
The rift now has military consequences. Ukrainian forces have lost US early warnings of incoming ballistic missiles, and surprise missile attacks hit Kyiv this week without any alert from Western partners. Ukrainian military officials were told by US counterparts "if you will not stop [the energy strikes], we will block intelligence", the Financial Times reported on October 15. Trump has denied that Washington cut intelligence sharing.
Over the same days SpaceX throttled Starlink across Ukraine, slowing the drone and frontline operations that Kyiv relies on to meet Russia's missile and drone raids as Moscow steps up its campaign to freeze Ukraine into submission.
Elon Musk said on X late on October 14 that the throttling was not SpaceX's decision.
"Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS," he wrote. Commercial Starlink "is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company," he added.
Elon Musk's X post of October 14 saying limits on Starshield are set by the US military and "ultimately POTUS". Source: X, Elon Musk
Zelenskiy named both men when asked about calls for him to go. "Not Trump, not Musk, not anybody in the world can choose the president or elect in other countries," he said in an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Ukrainska Pravda reported on October 14.
He said whoever succeeded him would not accept Putin's terms. "I'm sure the new man or woman [to become president] will defend our country because, as I said, it's our home. How can you do it in other ways?" Asked whether he would resign, he replied: "Not of course. It's my responsibility." He added that an election was all but impossible because "each hour we have attacks". Kyiv has said it will hold a vote if Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire.
In the Financial Times interview, given in London, Zelenskiy said Ukraine would resume strikes on Russian refineries. "The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We're done," he said. He had paused energy strikes for three days at Washington's request while Russia kept hitting Ukraine's grid and killed more than 100 civilians in a week, and he rejected the US explanation that the loss of intelligence was a technical glitch: "It was not a technical problem, it was the will."
He said he would halt the strikes even if Russia did not, provided the US supplied more Patriot interceptors, which he called the "minimum" as Ukraine's interceptor missiles run dry. When he asked for more air defence, he said, the answer was a weaker Starlink.
In London Zelenskiy met King Charles and Prime Minister Andy Burnham on October 14. Burnham said "we are with you for as long as it takes" and announced a GBP45mn ($59.6mn) delivery of surface-to-air missiles to target Russia's jet-powered drones, with GBP10mn of it fast-tracked, Reuters reported. He asked officials to draw up further sanctions, military aid and fiscal support, and Britain has said it does not back the US-Russia diesel deal.
Zelenskiy was due to address EU leaders in Brussels on October 15 to press for tougher sanctions on Russia and faster release of EU funds.