Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said he had been reassured by his US counterpart Pete Hegseth that Ukraine’s access to Starlink had been restored, as he invoked St Francis of Assisi in his efforts to “bring harmony” between Washington and Kyiv.
Mr Streeting said Mr Hegseth had assured him that the vital Starlink satellite communications system was back up and running, although it remained unclear what had caused the disruption, amid renewed tensions between the US and Ukraine.
He sought to use his first visit to Washington DC as Defence Secretary to bolster ties that have been strained by issues including President Donald Trump’s stance on Kyiv and the widening US-Nato rift.
It comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited London and said Mr Trump had betrayed his country by limiting its use of US-made Starlink terminals which are vital for the Ukrainian military.
Speaking to the BBC after his Thursday meeting with Mr Hegseth, Mr Streeting said: “Unsurprisingly we did discuss Starlink. It’s not yet clear to us in the UK what happened, why the service interruption occurred.
“But I am reassured, and was reassured directly by Secretary Hegseth, that the service has been restored.
“And that is a demonstration, I think, of the importance of the US contribution on intelligence sharing.”
The Defence Secretary evaded questions on what caused the disruption, saying instead: “This is not the first time we’ve seen a falling out between Washington and Kyiv.
“And as I said to Secretary Hegseth, in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony.’
Prime Minister Andy Burnham welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Downing Street (Henry Nicholls/PA)
PA Wire
“That has been the British approach in moments like this. That’s the diplomacy and the approach I’ve brought to Washington today.
“I’m here to solve problems, and the UK has been Ukraine’s number one ally. We will continue to play that role.”
Conservative former defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace earlier told the broadcaster he believed Mr Trump “wants Russia to win” and that “all his actions show he’s much more supportive of Russia than Ukraine, and that should worry us all”.
Asked about Sir Ben’s intervention, Mr Streeting said: “My reflection on the meeting I’ve just had with Secretary Hegseth is that this is a fight between freedom and self-determination and democracy for Ukraine, and Russian tyranny…
“America ultimately comes down on the side of freedom. I think there’s no doubt that President Trump wants to see an end to this war and wants to play a role in negotiating a peace.”
He said the message he had brought to Washington was that “it’s really important that we keep the Americans engaged”.
There have been mounting fears over the United States’ commitment to Kyiv, with the Starlink disruption following Mr Trump’s move to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Mr Streeting earlier made the case for continuing American support for Ukraine in a talk held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the Royal United Services Institute.
He warned that if Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression was rewarded, “the consequences will not remain confined to Ukraine or to my continent”.
Mr Streeting said: “Britain and America have never been content to simply watch history unfold. At defining moments, we have helped determine its course.
“The front line for freedom today can be found in Ukraine.”
He continued: “Ukraine may be thousands of miles from American shores, but if aggression is rewarded, if borders can be redrawn by force, if the sovereignty of nations becomes negotiable, the consequences will not remain confined to Ukraine or to my continent.
“So standing with Ukraine is not a choice between our values and our self-interest. It is a recognition that ultimately they are inseparable.”
The Defence Secretary said Ukraine had demonstrated how relatively inexpensive technologies could transform modern warfare, saying military strength increasingly depended on the ability to innovate quickly and produce new weapons at scale, rather than simply possessing the most expensive hardware.
He said this presented “Britain and America with an extraordinary opportunity, not simply to renew our defence partnership, but to help build an alliance fit for the challenges of this century”.
“I firmly believe it remains the strongest and most enduring bilateral relationship anywhere in the world, but its future cannot run purely on the fumes of nostalgia.
“Collaboration on defence innovation can drive our partnership to new heights for the rest of this century.”