Zelenskyy: SpaceX Not Honest About "Political" Reasons for Starshield Slowdown

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Kyiv on Friday that Elon Musk's company SpaceX is not being truthful about restrictions placed on the Starshield satellite system used by Ukraine. In his view, the speed limit looks "political" rather than "technical". It matters because the limits affect Ukraine's ability to defend against Russian drone attacks and to strike targets in occupied territory.

Limits on drone operations

Zelenskyy said the restrictions had been in place for five days. Drones can no longer fly faster than 161 km/h (100 mph), as connections are lost at higher speeds. As a result, incoming jet-powered Russian Shahed drones cannot be intercepted. Ukraine's mid-range strikes on military targets in Russian-occupied territory have also been severely affected.

The president said he had asked the military leadership to raise the issue with SpaceX, the Pentagon and the US state department. He said there was no clear explanation. Ukraine's defence ministry spoke with SpaceX, which replied that it was imposing no restrictions and that it was a technical issue. Zelenskyy said he does not believe this, since problems have been detected across the entire frontline and daily tests give the same result.

Ukraine suspects the slowdown is a deliberate US tactic to pressure Zelenskyy into concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin. A similar issue occurred last month and coincided with US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi last week between Ukrainian and Russian representatives.

Talks and Donbas

The Kremlin insists Ukraine give up the entire eastern Donbas region. Zelenskyy categorically ruled out surrendering more land. He revealed that US negotiators, Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and real estate developer Steve Witkoff, asked whether Ukraine would give up Donbas in exchange for Nato membership or Nato-like security guarantees. Details were vague, and the proposal did not appear to involve US peacekeeping troops. He said the war can only end with a ceasefire and meaningful security guarantees.

Zelenskyy also dismissed Putin's offer of a "humanitarian mission" in Kostiantynivka as a primitive ploy. Russia has called for a five-day ceasefire modelled on the Oleshky truce. Zelenskyy had proposed repeating that truce in other places along the Dnipro River, which Putin rejected.

He called the Kremlin's demand for Nato to return to its pre-1997 configuration concerning. After meeting in Dublin, European leaders gave tangible pledges, including Danish ammunition for F-16 jets and energy support packages.