Zelenskyy: US has not hinted at possible Starlink shutdown in Ukraine
Pravda Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States has not dropped any hints about Starlink terminals in Ukraine potentially being shut down. However, he acknowledged that Ukraine should be prepared for such an eventuality.
Source: Zelenskyy at a press conference on 23 February, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Zelenskyy said he had seen media reports suggesting that the US had threatened to disconnect Ukraine from Starlink if Kyiv did not agree to a deal on profit sharing from the use of Ukrainian natural resources.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “There have been no hints [about being disconnected from Starlink – ed]. We’ve seen that in the media. We do need to be prepared, yes. The relevant institutions are working on this.”
Details: The president emphasised that disconnecting Starlink in Ukraine would be wrong, as payments are made for these services each month.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “We pay for it – it’s not free assistance. We are grateful for these technologies, but we pay for them… So we’ll assume there are no such risks for now, and it’s really just an issue in the media.”
Background:
- On 22 February, Reuters reported that US negotiators were considering disconnecting Ukraine from Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system if Ukraine does not agree to their terms on the mineral agreement.
- Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski has stated that he does not believe it is possible to disconnect the Starlink satellite communication terminals in Ukraine which are funded by Poland.
- Elon Musk has denied reports that US negotiators had threatened to cut off Ukraine’s Starlink satellite internet service if it refused to sign the minerals deal.
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