The United States threatened to cut off Ukraine's access to the Starlink satellite communication system during negotiations with official Kyiv regarding a minerals agreement. This was reported by Reuters, citing sources.
This issue arose after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to sign a minerals agreement brought to Kyiv by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The question of Ukraine's access to Starlink was also raised during a meeting between Zelensky and U.S. President’s Special Envoy Keith Kellogg, which took place on February 20.
One of Reuters' sources stated that the American side warned that Ukraine would "inevitably" have its satellite internet from Musk's company shut down if the minerals agreement was not finalized.
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Neither the Ukrainian embassy in Washington, the White House, the Pentagon, nor SpaceX, which operates Starlink, responded to Reuters' request for comment.
The Telegraph reported that the agreement proposed by the Trump administration involves U.S. control over Ukraine’s mineral and oil and gas resources, ports, and "other infrastructure."
The White House administration specifically wants the U.S. to receive 50% of the revenues that Ukraine generates from resource extraction.
Following President Zelensky's refusal to enter into a minerals agreement, Donald Trump launched an information campaign against him, labeling Zelensky a "dictator without elections" with a 4% approval rating.
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Starlink is a global satellite system that SpaceX has been deploying since 2019. It provides high-speed satellite internet access. The Starlink satellite communication system is actively used by the Ukrainian military — SpaceX provided this technology to Kyiv in the early days of the full-scale invasion by the Russian army.
Ukraine received 30,000 Starlink terminals, reported the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov in January 2023.
In October 2023, SpaceX requested funding from the Pentagon for the operation of Starlink in Ukraine. According to SpaceX estimates, $124 million will be spent by the end of the year on supplying equipment for the system.
After this, Elon Musk assured that the Starlink satellite communication system would continue to operate in Ukraine even if the Pentagon refused to pay for it.
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The satellite internet provider Starlink increased its service fees for Ukrainians from $60 to $75 per month starting in December.