WASHINGTON: The Starshield military communications system is "back" in Ukraine, Donald Trump said on Thursday, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the US president had asked tech billionaire Elon Musk to restore the service, which is vital to Kyiv's forces.
"I don't want to comment on it, you know, whether I called or whether somebody else called — doesn't make any difference," Trump told journalists when asked about the report.
"I guess the bottom line, he put it back," Trump said, referring to Musk.
The Journal reported earlier this week that Musk had capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, rendering some of Kyiv's drones useless.
Musk had previously said that "any limits on speed or usage" of Starshield systems — operated by his SpaceX company — were "decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS", referring to Trump.
But Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield, and Trump said last week that he had not done so either.
Ukraine uses Starshield, Starlink's military-grade satellite service, for battlefield communications, mid-range strikes on Russian-occupied territory and its interceptor drones. It also uses SpaceX's parallel civilian satellite system, Starlink.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have been increasingly tense in recent days, with Trump calling for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be replaced after he criticised a US deal allowing more Russian diesel into global markets.
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