Ukraine is continuing talks with the U.S. side about the possibility of using the Starlink satellite system in Russia for the needs of Ukraine’s defense.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said this while speaking with journalists, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
“In the first half of this year, I received a request from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to find a way to reach an agreement with President Trump on using Starlink in the Russian Federation for our defense purposes. Because the SpaceX company, headed by Elon Musk, had apparently already given the go-ahead for this — at least that is what I was told — and it supposedly needed to be approved at the political level. I received the relevant information, made an inquiry, and met with the President of the United States. I am grateful to the President of America — we had a long conversation on this issue. I was able to assure him that this would help help bring the war to an end sooner by reducing Russia’s ability to prolong it.” Since I had received this information from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, I told the President of America that Musk had confirmed to us that such use was permitted,” the president said.
According to Zelensky, representatives of the two delegations tried to contact Musk, but he did not answer their calls at the time. At the same time, during a subsequent meeting, Trump said that SpaceX had denied Ukraine permission to use Starlink in Russia because of the potential for escalation against Russia.
