US negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite Internet system, three sources familiar with the matter said.
Ukraine’s continued access to Space Exploration Technologies-owned Starlink was brought up in discussions between US and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned down an initial proposal from US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, the sources said.
Starlink provides crucial Internet connectivity to war-torn Ukraine and its military.
Photo: Bloomberg
The issue was raised again on Thursday during meetings between US special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg and Zelenskiy, said one of the sources, who was briefed on the talks.
During the meeting, Ukraine was told it faced imminent shutoff of the service if it did not reach a deal on critical minerals, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss closed negotiations.
“Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star,” the source said. “Losing Starlink ... would be a massive blow.”
Zelenskiy has rejected demands from US President Donald Trump’s administration for US$500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid, saying the US has offered no specific security guarantees.
The Ukrainian president said the US and Ukrainian teams were working on an agreement and Trump said he expected a deal would be signed soon.
Musk rushed thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine to replace communications services destroyed by Russia after its February 2022 invasion. Hailed as a hero in Ukraine, Musk later curtailed access at least once before in the fall of 2022 as he became more critical of Kyiv’s handling of the war.
US lawmakers are divided over Trump’s efforts to find a quick end to the Ukraine war and some have raised questions about Musk’s rapid-fire efforts to cull thousands of federal workers and shut down Federal agencies.
Melinda Haring, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, said Starlink was essential for Ukraine’s operation of drones, a key pillar of its military strategy.
“Losing Starlink would be a game changer,” Haring said, adding that Ukraine was now at 1:1 parity with Russia in terms of drone usage and artillery shells. Ukraine has a wide range of different drone capabilities, ranging from sea drones and surveillance drones to long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.
Also on Friday, the US proposed a UN resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv’s territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged UN members to approve the “simple, historic” resolution.
The proposal came amid an intensifying feud between Trump and Zelenskiy, which has seen Trump claim it was “not important” for his Ukrainian counterpart to be involved in peace talks.
It also appeared to rival a separate draft resolution produced by Kyiv and its European allies, countries that Trump has also sought to sideline from talks on the future of the three-year-old war.
The Ukrainian-European text stresses the need to redouble diplomatic efforts to end the war this year, noting several initiatives to that end, while also blaming Russia for the invasion and committing to Kyiv’s “territorial integrity.”
The text also repeats the UN General Assembly’s previous demands for an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. Those votes had wide support, with about 140 of the 193 member states voting in favor.
Washington’s text calls for a “swift end to the conflict” without mentioning Kyiv’s territorial integrity, and was welcomed by Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia as “a good move.”
“A stripped-down text of this type that does not condemn Russian aggression or explicitly reference Ukraine’s territorial integrity looks like a betrayal of Kyiv and a jab at the EU, but also a show of disdain for core principles of international law,” International Crisis Group UN and multilateral diplomacy director Richard Gowan said. “I think even a lot of states that favor an early end to the war will worry that the US is ignoring core elements of the UN Charter.”
Additional reporting by AFP
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