"Give Ukraine air superiority – then Putin will come to negotiating table," – Zelenskyy on Starlink. VIDEO
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the US to allow the use of Starlink over Russian territory, emphasising that this would help Ukraine defend its airspace and force the Kremlin to the negotiating table
He made this statement in comments to the media, according to Censor.NET.
Details
"Open up Starlink to Ukraine. You did open it up when responding to Iran, didn’t you? Everything worked there. Israel had complete control of the skies over Iran. So, when you need it, does it work?" he said.
Zelenskyy explained that when speaking with colleagues from the US and Europe, he tells them that China is transferring "alternatives to Starlink" technology to Russia.
"They’re passing this on to Russia. Russia could achieve such dominance. We’re talking to the Europeans, who are also developing several such projects. They’ll be happy to help us, but they’re not yet close enough to the result we need – simply to control the skies in order to protect ourselves.
We are talking about defence. The US has this capability. It costs them nothing. I have said quite openly: ‘Give it to us, help us defend the skies and dominate them. Then Putin will sit down at the negotiating table, because he will have lost everything,’ the head of state emphasised.
What is known about Starlink over Russia
- On 22 August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that, due to a misunderstanding between the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, Musk and US President Donald Trump, Kyiv had mistakenly believed that Musk had already agreed to the use of Starlink over Russia.
- Subsequently, according to Zelenskyy, it transpired that Musk had not granted such permission.
- Ukraine is already using drones equipped with Starlink to strike targets in the occupied territories. However, the terminals do not operate over Russian territory.
- Kyiv is considering the possibility of using Starlink in Russia, in particular to rapidly neutralise Russian ballistic missile launchers.
