Neither Trump nor anyone else in US asked to restrict Starlink, - Rubio
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied media reports that the U.S. had denied Ukraine anything necessary for its defense.
He told reporters this, according to Censor.NET.
Details
"Starlink is a private company. They have a contract, and that contract includes terms governing how this technology may be used.
"The key point is that we cannot tell a private company what decisions to make or not to make. What I can say with certainty is that neither the President of the United States nor anyone else in our system has ever asked for any changes to be made to this system," he said.
Rubio also said that media reports claiming the U.S. government had denied Ukraine something necessary for its defense were untrue.
"That is not true. And the fact that leaders in Ukraine continue to present it that way is also untrue. ...
"No country in the world has done more to help Ukraine over the past four and a half years than the United States, including during the Trump administration," he added.
Restrictions on Starlink Service in Ukraine
- On October 14, volunteer and former advisor to the Minister of Defense Serhiy Sternenko stated that overnight, SpaceX restricted the operation of Starlink terminals for the Ukrainian military. As a result, he said, "a number of important missions were disrupted." The restrictions were imposed on data transmission based on the speed of the UAVs using Starlink.
- Sergey Beskrestnov (Flash) later confirmed this information. According to him, the restrictions could also complicate the use of drones designed to intercept jet-powered suicide drones.
- Units of the 7th Corps of the Airborne Forces also reported that they began experiencing issues with Starlink connectivity in the Huliaipole area last night. This refers to the Starshield package—the so-called military package—which previously had no data transfer speed limits.
- Later, former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated that the network is being restored to speeds of up to 160 km/h.
- At the same time, Elon Musk stated that he is not the one who sets the limits for Starshield, which Ukraine is using. This system is controlled by the U.S. government, not SpaceX.
- According to Reuters, the order to impose restrictions on Starshield for Ukraine came from the White House.
- On October 16, U.S. President Trump stated that Washington was not involved in the slowdown of the "military package" of Starlink (Starshield) satellite communications for the Ukrainian military.
- On October 19, Zelenskyy reported that in various sectors of the front, Ukrainian military equipment equipped with the Starlink system stops functioning at speeds of 130–161 kilometers per hour.
- Hegset stated that the Pentagon had not issued any orders to restrict Starshield.
