American billionaire Elon Musk confirmed that he will "never turn off" the Starlink satellite communication terminals for Ukraine.
He wrote about this on his social network X.
"To be absolutely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the policy on Ukraine, Starlink will never turn off its terminals," Musk stressed.
He added that “we would never do that and use it as a bargaining chip”. However, he goes on to argue that without Starlink, the front in Ukraine “would collapse because the Russians can jam all other communications”.
The Starlink satellite internet network belongs to SpaceX, a company founded by Elon Musk.
Before Muskʼs publication, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that "no one threatened to disconnect Ukraine" from Starlink, which is helping the Ukrainian military fight Russian occupiers.
What preceded
In late February, Reuters reported that the US was threatening to shut down Starlink if Kyiv did not sign a mineral rights deal. This is critical because Ukraine has been using Starlink for communications on the front lines and at infrastructure facilities since the start of the full-scale invasion.
A few days later, the US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky argued in the White House, and the mineral agreement was not signed. Already on March 4, the US president ordered the suspension of US military aid to Kyiv, including that which was on its way. The aid would allegedly be on hold until Ukrainian representatives demonstrated a “good faith commitment to peace”.
Due to the tense relations between the US and Ukraine, European allies have begun to think about alternatives to Starlink. Four major satellite operators from Europe are already in talks with governments and EU institutions about a backup connection for Ukraine.
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