A recent slowdown of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite system that enables Ukraine to fend off deadly Russian aerial assaults came from an order by Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive officer, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Musk restricted the speed of Ukraine’s access to the satellite system, which hampered the ability of the country’s drones to carry out defensive and offensive missions, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed American officials and others. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces have been carrying out relentless attacks on Ukraine, including striking civilian targets.
Musk discussed the Starlink decision with U.S. President Donald Trump after the shortfall became publicly known, according to the Journal. The Journal also reported that a person familiar with the matter said Musk, a Trump ally, had talked about the Starlink slowdown with administration officials before it went into effect.
Trump has faulted Ukraine for a rise in diesel fuel costs, and demanded the country end its strokes on Russian refineries. The bulk of the rise this year in diesel and retail gasoline costs came after the president’s decision to launch strikes in concert with Israel against Iran. Earlier this month, Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with Putin to supply the U.S. and global market with diesel.
That alarmed Ukraine’s supporters, including some Republican lawmakers, who pointed out that revenue from energy exports helps finance Russia’s war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interview with Bloomberg on Sunday, accused Trump of trying to coerce his country into capitulating to Russia. But at a press conference in Oslo earlier Tuesday, Zelenskyy sounded more upbeat on relations with the U.S., saying he discussed intelligence sharing and access to Starlink with special envoy Steve Witkoff.
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