Musk personally proposed to Trump to limit Starlink for Ukraine - The Telegraph
American billionaire and owner of SpaceX Elon Musk personally approached US President Donald Trump with a proposal to limit the speed of Starlink satellite communications for the Ukrainian military. According to the British publication The Telegraph, the American president agreed with the initiative, after which the Pentagon got the opportunity to impose restrictions on the military system Starshield.
This was reported on October 16 by The Telegraph, citing four sources familiar with the circumstances of the discussion.
According to the publication, the initiator of the restrictions was Musk himself, although he had previously publicly placed responsibility for such decisions on the American government.
One The Telegraph source claims that Trump supported the entrepreneur's proposal. This version of events was also confirmed by a senior European official and two sources in Ukraine.
At the same time, journalists do not have a public document confirming the order of the US President. The information about the participation of Musk and Trump is based on the testimony of sources who wished to remain unnamed.
Restrictions were imposed against the background of a conflict between Trump and Zelensky
According to The Telegraph, Musk approached the American president during a period of escalation of disagreements between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Trump demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stop long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, arguing that they contribute to rising world oil and petroleum product prices.
American representatives also warned Ukrainian negotiators about the possibility of limiting intelligence sharing and other forms of support if Kyiv continued the relevant operations.
On the night of October 14, the Ukrainian military faced a sudden restriction on the speed of satellite terminals. A limit of about 160 km/h was set for the Starshield system, above which the connection could be interrupted.
The changes complicated the use of Ukrainian drones, including interceptor drones designed to counter Russian jet-powered devices.
The Ukrainian side stated that it had not received preliminary warnings about the restrictions. Communication disruptions also affected certain reconnaissance and logistics operations.
Musk began to point to the responsibility of the White House
After reports of problems with satellite communications appeared, Musk stated on the social network X that the military system Starshield is under the control of the United States government.
He emphasized that decisions on limiting speed and other conditions of use of the system are made by the American military, and final authority rests with the President of the United States.
However, The Telegraph sources claim that the entrepreneur himself proposed the restrictions.
According to one of the sources, after Russian strikes on Kyiv, Musk began to fear a possible negative reaction from European consumers to SpaceX's actions.
It was after this that the entrepreneur publicly stated that American government agencies are responsible for the operation of Starshield.
A source of the publication claims that in reality both Musk and Trump participated in making the decision.
This statement contradicts the entrepreneur's public position. There is no independent confirmation of Musk's alleged motives yet.
Trump denies his involvement
The new information from The Telegraph appeared on the same day that Donald Trump publicly rejected accusations of limiting satellite communications for Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters on October 16, the American president said that he had checked the information and found no confirmation of his administration's involvement.
According to Trump, he personally did not give the corresponding order and does not believe that the restrictions were initiated by Elon Musk.
Earlier, sources in American government agencies also denied the president's participation in the decision-making.
At the same time, according to other media, the leadership of the Pentagon received instructions to limit the work of Starshield directly from the White House. At that, the journalists' sources did not name specific officials responsible for the order.
Thus, the new information from The Telegraph directly contradicts the statements of Trump and Musk. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon has yet provided a comprehensive public explanation of the reasons for the restrictions.
Ukraine seeks full restoration of communications
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on October 16 called the sudden restriction of the satellite system's operation a dangerous and unpleasant surprise.
According to him, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense maintains constant contact with partners on the issue of restoring communications.
Zelensky said he received information about signals from the White House regarding the return of the system's previous capabilities.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president specified that satellite communications are gradually being restored, but the previous speed restrictions had not yet been fully lifted at that moment.
Starshield is a specialized military satellite communications system developed by SpaceX based on the Starlink infrastructure. Unlike the commercial Starlink service, it is intended for government and defense customers.
The dependence of the Ukrainian military on SpaceX satellite technologies makes any changes in the conditions of access to them a significant factor for the performance of combat tasks.
New reports of Musk's alleged initiative raise questions about who controls the restrictions of satellite communications for Ukraine and whether such decisions can be made without prior agreement with Kyiv.
Based on materials from: The Telegraph, Axios, Axios — on the introduction of restrictions.