Unverified reports indicate that Elon Musk floated the idea of throttling Starlink's satellite connectivity as a bargaining tool in discussions with Donald Trump, framing it as potential leverage in the unresolved ceasefire dispute between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. An unnamed individual reportedly passed the account to a broadcast news outlet, stating that Trump had expressed receptiveness to Musk's proposal for direct involvement.
When questioned about responsibility for the slowdown, Trump stated that neither he nor Musk had any involvement, distancing both himself and the tech entrepreneur from the matter. In remarks delivered on Wednesday, Musk attributed any restrictions on speed or usage to decisions made by the US military and, ultimately, the president. At an earlier point, Musk had directed responsibility for the situation toward the US president.
The unnamed individual also relayed to the news outlet that the person in question had posted on social media proclaiming his own innocence and attributing responsibility for the matter to the US administration. Citing a broadcast outlet regarded as reliable, one senior European official and two Ukrainians with direct knowledge of the matter independently corroborated the account — including the quoted assertion that both parties bore responsibility.
Following presidential authorisation, the Pentagon moved to carry out the directive, with work on the Starshield programme brought to a reduced pace. Starlink, designed for the general public, operates as a separate product line from Starshield — the government-facing arm of the same satellite network that handles defence contracts.
The exchange unfolded within hours of Zelenskyy's public reply to Trump, who had described him as a "disgrace" in connection with energy strikes carried out against Russia. Objections from Zelenskyy over a fuel agreement negotiated between Trump and Moscow coincided with Trump's own reservations about Ukrainian drone strikes targeting a Russian oil refinery.
Drones travelling as far as Kyiv formed part of what monitoring groups described as among the heavier aerial bombardments of the conflict, with the reach of the strikes linked in part to gaps in the country's air-defence coverage.
That sequence of events placed the announcement a single day after Zelenskyy had been in London, where the Ukrainian president conveyed to officials his view that Trump had moved against Kyiv's interests by limiting Ukrainian forces' ability to access Starlink terminals — satellite communications hardware the country's armed forces rely on extensively to conduct battlefield operations. Ukraine characterised the restriction on access as driven by political calculation rather than operational necessity.
At a summit held in Belgium on Friday, European heads of state gathered in a show of solidarity with Ukraine's president, while the relationship between Washington and Kyiv continued to face mounting pressure. Prior to the Brussels gathering, Zelenskyy held talks with Prime Minister Andy Burnham, with the two leaders covering the question of Britain's ongoing backing for Ukraine.
The UK Defence Secretary made Washington DC the destination for his first visit in the role, with the trip focused on addressing discord that had developed over Ukraine and the wider state of relations between the US and NATO allies. Seeking to ease tensions between Washington and Kyiv, the UK Defence Secretary drew on the words of St Francis of Assisi as a call for reconciliation. Streeting told reporters that Hegseth had given him assurances the Starlink service was operational again, though the reason behind the outage had yet to be established.
