Tesla and SpaceX CEO insists that he will not reduce Ukraine’s access to the Internet despite his disagreements with kyiv.
The technological billionaire Elon Musk and the Secretary of State of the United States Marco Rubio exchanged beards with the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski on the use of the Musk Internet Starlink service in Ukraine.
During the exchange tense on X Sunday, Sikorski suggested that Poland, which pays Ukraine’s starlink costs to help it repel the invasion of Russia, may have to look for alternative suppliers if the Musk satellite network turns out to be an “unreliable supplier”.
Sikorski made the comments after Musk, one of the most influential allies of US President Donald Trump, said that “the whole front of the Ukrainian army would collapse” without Starlink.
“I literally challenged Putin to a physical fight in a against Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. All their front line would collapse if I put it out, “said Musk in response to an X user who accused him of not treating Russia as the aggressor and not criticizing Ukraine.
“What I am disgusting are years of slaughter in a dead end that Ukraine will inevitably lose.”
Starlinks for Ukraine are paid by the Ministry of Polish digitization at the cost of around $ 50 million per year.
The ethics to threaten the victim of assault separately, if SpaceX turns out to be an unreliable supplier, we will be forced to search for other suppliers.– Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) March 9, 2025
Rubio came to the defense of Musk after the position of Sikorski, accusing the Polish politician of “inventing things”.
“No one threatened to cut Ukraine from Starlink,” said Rubio.
“And to say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war for a long time and the Russians would be on the border with Poland at the moment.”
Musk then unleashed to Sikorski himself, by publishing: “Be calm, little man. You pay a tiny cost fraction. And there is no substitute for Starlink. »»
Last month, the Reuters news agency, citing three anonymous sources, said that American negotiators increased the possibility of cutting Ukraine access to the Starlink service while pushing Kyiv for access to critical minerals in the country.
Musk, who heads the Trump Government Ministry of Efficiency on Sunday, insisted that he would not cut Ukraine’s access to Starlink despite his explosion with the best diplomat in Poland.
“To be extremely clear, it doesn’t matter how much I don’t agree with Ukrainian policy, Starlink will never deactivate his terminals,” said Musk.
“I simply say that, without Starlink, the Ukrainian lines would collapse, because the Russians can block all other communications!” We would never do such a thing or use it as a negotiation chip. »»
Poland has financed about half of the 42,000 Estimated Starlink terminals operating in Ukraine.
The terminals provided vital internet connectivity to the military and essential services of Ukraine after the destruction by Russia of the country’s communication networks during its large -scale invasion in February 2022.
Last week, Trump ordered a break on Ukraine’s all military aid on Wednesday, and CIA director John Ratcliffe said the United States also interrupted intelligence with Ukraine.
US officials suggested that the break on military aid and intelligence may be lifted if there is a diplomatic breakthrough between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the end of the war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol7lhaytgwu
Trump said on Sunday that the United States had “approximately ended” the suspension of intelligence sharing and that it expects good results compared to the next talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
US officials are expected to meet the Ukrainian delegation on Tuesday in Djeddah while the Trump administration behaves to obtain a cease-fire and a “executive” for a peace agreement.
