U.S. President Donald Trump said that American billionaire Elon Musk restored satellite communications Starlink for the Ukrainian military after previously imposed speed limits. At the same time, the American leader declined to say whether he personally called the SpaceX owner asking to lift these restrictions.
Trump announced this on October 22 while speaking with journalists near the White House, CBS News reports.
The U.S. president was asked whether it is true that he personally approached Musk with a demand to restore the full operation of the satellite system for Ukraine.
"I don't want to comment on that - whether I called or someone else. It doesn't matter. I think the main thing is that he put everything back," Trump said.
The U.S. President also emphasized that his relationship with Elon Musk remains very good. At the same time, he did not reveal details of possible negotiations with the entrepreneur.
Earlier, "Ukraine Course" reported, citing The Wall Street Journal, that Trump personally called Musk on October 21 and asked to lift the speed restrictions on satellite communications for the Ukrainian military.
According to the publication's information, the American president was unhappy that the speed at which the system continued to operate remained limited to approximately 160 km/h. This created problems for the use of high-speed Ukrainian drones.
After the likely conversation between Trump and Musk, the satellite communications operations improved. However, the complete lifting of restrictions for all Ukrainian military remains unconfirmed.
As Radio Svoboda reported, citing a Ukrainian official, some units recorded an increase in available speed, but the changes did not affect everyone. According to the source, in certain areas the restrictions continued to affect the capabilities of Ukrainian drones.
This primarily concerns the military system Starshield, created by SpaceX based on Starlink technologies. The Ukrainian Defense Forces use satellite communications to control drones, communications between units, and counter Russian air attacks.
Sources: CBS News, Radio Svoboda
