US President Donald Trump has denied claims that he or SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was responsible for the disruption of Starlink services in Ukraine earlier this week. His remarks come amid rising tensions between Washington and Kyiv over Ukraine’s military operations against Russian energy infrastructure and the fragile efforts to establish an energy ceasefire between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters on Friday while travelling to a campaign rally in Georgia, Trump said neither he nor Musk had ordered any restrictions on Ukraine’s Starlink access. He also suggested that the service might not have experienced a significant slowdown.
“I didn’t do that. No, we didn’t do that at all. In fact, I don’t even think it was slowed down from what I understood. Because I just checked this morning,” Trump told reporters.
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“I heard about it from the news, the media. And we didn’t slow it down at all. And I think it’s probably functioning, from what I understand,” he continued.
When asked whether Musk had any involvement in the matter, Trump said, “I don’t know if there’s anybody because it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Elon, as I understand it.”
A White House official also denied that Trump had requested any such action, telling NewNation that “no such request” had been made by the president.
The denials came after reports suggested that Musk had approached Trump with the idea of slowing Starlink services in Ukraine, raising questions about the role of the US administration and SpaceX in the country’s military communications.
Ukraine Reports Starlink Outage Affecting Military Communications
Ukraine reported the disruption on Wednesday, saying its military had lost access to the military version of Starlink, which has become an important communication tool during its war against Russia.
The satellite internet service is used by Ukrainian forces to maintain communications across the battlefield and support military operations. The reported disruption raised concerns about the country’s ability to coordinate its defences against Russian attacks.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Starlink services were restricted for objects travelling at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. The limitations reportedly affected Ukrainian drones, aircraft and helicopters.
The development prompted speculation among some Ukrainian officials that the restrictions might have originated in Washington. However, Trump subsequently denied any involvement, while the exact circumstances surrounding the disruption remained disputed.
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