US President Trump on Friday denied that the White House had ordered restrictions on SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet services in Ukraine this week. Trump said he did not think either he or Elon Musk was responsible for Ukraine losing access to Starshield — Starlink's "military-grade" service.
Reporters in Washington, DC, on Friday asked Trump who was responsible for pausing access for the Ukrainian military.
“Well, I don’t know if it was anybody because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” Trump said. “And from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been," he was quoted by CNBC as saying.
The Starlink, Starshield controversy
Trump's remarks came days after Ukrainian officials said SpaceX had restricted use of Starshield, a military-grade version of Starlink, without warning, impeding some military operations and its ability to defend civilians against intensifying attacks by Russia.
Ukraine relies on two satellite systems. One is SpaceX's Starlink, which is used for communications, ground forces, logistics and defensive drones — ones that shoot down incoming drones. The other is Starshield, which is used for offensive military purposes.
“Both systems were restricted, according to Ukraine,” Axios had reported on Wednesday.
Following the allegations, SpaceX boss pinned responsibility for any restrictions on the US government and Trump, posted on X, “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government.”
Musk said any restrictions on Starlink or Starshield in Ukraine would have come from decisions by the president or White House.
Ukrainian forces have long relied on Starlink and Starshield to enable data gathering by their autonomous drones and for other communications during the war with Russia. The restrictions cut off connectivity for drones or other vehicles traveling above 160 kilometers per hour.
Serhii Beskrestnov, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote in a post on Telegram this week that, “Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions, and this led to the failure of a number of missions.”
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s deputy prime minister, criticised Musk on X about the restrictions. Poland has purchased Starlink services for Ukraine from SpaceX.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” he wrote. “As your European customers, we are watching you.”
The Telegraph reported Friday that Musk “approached Donald Trump with the idea of slowing down Starlink in Ukraine,” and both had a hand in imposing the restrictions.
Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two US officials, that the call to restrict Starlink in Ukraine came from the White House, but did not say who made the order.
According to Axios, US officials pointed to a technical malfunction in the system, but Ukrainian officials suspect that it was a warning shot from the Trump administration.
Zelensky was quoted by Axios as saying, "We had massive [Russian] attacks today and it's a pity that we also had difficulties ... about Starlink and about intelligence and a lot of different surprises...We count on the partnership with the US but we just want to be very honest and very clear and be a strong partner."
On October 10, after Trump called on Ukraine to stop all attacks on Russian oil refineries, Musk wrote in a post on X, “Zelensky has gone too far.”
Starlink access still not fully restored for Ukraine’s military, says Zelenskyy
Even days after Ukrainian officials alleged a restriction on Starlink services, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said recently that the satellite internet service has not yet been fully restored, as media reports suggested the order to throttle the service had come from within the White House.
Zelenskyy met European leaders on Friday in Brussels, where he asked the EU for another €70bn (£60bn) next year to fund Ukraine’s defence against Russia.
Speaking after meeting EU leaders on Friday, Zelenskyy said that Starshield had not yet returned to normal.
“Our defence ministry is in touch and my partners, they told me that there were signals from the White House that they would return these capabilities,” Zelenskyy said. “Have they returned to the previous speed limits? No. But is it coming back now? Yes.”
(With inputs from reports)