Zelenskyy urges US to expand Starlink access, predicts Putin would lose everything
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the United States to help Ukraine defend its skies and expand its access to Starlink on Oct. 8.
On October 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called upon the United States to aid in defending Ukraine's skies and enhance its access to Starlink. He maintained that such support would compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations, stating, "Open up Starlink to Ukraine. To us, for Ukraine. You opened it up when you responded to Iran.
Everything worked there. Israel completely controlled the skies, completely controlled the skies over Iran." Zelenskyy also cautioned that China is nearing the development of an alternative to Starlink that Russia could utilize.
Ukrainian officials are engaging with European nations in discussions about the matter, but they acknowledge progress has been slow. Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of controlling the skies for self-protection, adding that the United States possesses this capability but could provide assistance at no cost. Ukraine is awaiting China's progress in developing an equivalent system to hand over to Russia.
In August, The Atlantic reported that Elon Musk was hesitant to grant Ukraine access to Starlink technology for targeting Russia's missile launch positions near Kyiv and other cities. Musk's reluctance was reported by The Financial Times on August 21, with sources indicating that Ukrainian officials had sought permission for Ukraine to use attack drones equipped with Starlink to strike Russian missile launchers up to 200 kilometers inside Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy reportedly discussed this possibility with U.S. President Donald Trump during a July White House meeting, but Trump did not explicitly endorse the idea.
In late August, the Kyiv Independent stated that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk remained opposed to using Starlink for strikes against Russia, describing subsequent talks between Musk and Ukrainian officials as "extremely unsuccessful." On September 23, Newsmax reported that Ukraine had raised the possibility of using Starlink for strikes inside Russia during a meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump in New York.
Trump's response was for Ukraine to communicate with Elon Musk about the matter. Finnish President Alexander Stubb urged Musk to expand Starlink satellite coverage in Ukraine during a September 23 interview.
Written by urgent.news from New Voice of Ukraine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
