The American negotiators who press kyiv to obtain access to the critical minerals of Ukraine have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to the vital Starlink Satellite Internet system of Elon Musk, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The continuous access of Ukraine to Starlink, owned by Spacex, was approached in discussions between US and Ukrainian officials after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, rejected an initial proposal of the US Treasury Secretary, Scott Besent, the sources said.
Starlink provides crucial internet connectivity to Ukraine devastated by war and its army. The issue was raised again during the meetings between Keith Kellogg, the United States special envoy to Ukraine, and Zelenskiy, said one of the sources, which was informed about the conversations.
During the meeting, it was told to Ukraine that it would face an imminent closure of the service if it did not reach a critical mineral agreement, said the source, which requested anonymity to discuss closed negotiations. “Ukraine works with Starlink. They consider it its polar star, ”said the source. “Losing Starlink … would be a tremendous blow.”
EU presses Ukraine to do what they want
After Reuters published his article, Musk published in X that the article was “false” and that “Reuters is lying.” When Reuters contacted him to ask for more details, Musk did not respond immediately.
A Reuters spokesman said the news agency maintains its information. Zelenskiy rejected the demands of the administration of President Donald Trump to obtain 500,000 million dollars in Mineral wealth of Ukraine to reimburse Washington for help in times of war, saying that the United States has not offered specific security guarantees.
On Friday, the Ukrainian president said that the American and Ukrainian teams were working on an agreement and Trump said he hopes that an agreement will be signed soon.
Musk sent thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine to replace the communications services destroyed by Russia after their invasion in February 2022. acclaimed at that time as a hero in Ukraine, Musk then restricted access at least once before, in the fall of 2022, when he became more critical of war management by kyiv. The Vice Primer Minister of Poland said on Saturday that his country has been paying the Ukraine Starlink subscription and will continue to do so.
American legislators are divided over Trump’s efforts to find a quick end to the Ukraine War and some have asked questions about Musk’s rapid efforts to eliminate thousands of federal workers and close federal agencies. Melinda Haring, a senior member of Atlantic Council, said Starlink was essential for the operation of drones in Ukraine, a key pillar of her military strategy.
“Losing Starlink would be a radical change,” said Haring, noting that Ukraine is now on equal conditions with Russia in terms of using artillery drones and projectiles. Ukraine has a wide range of drones, from maritime drones and surveillance drones to long -range non -manned aerial vehicles.
The Ukraine Embassy in Washington, the White House and the United States Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comments. Spacex, who operates Starlink, also did not respond to a request for comments. The Russian and American negotiators are scheduled to hold a second meeting in the next two weeks to deal with the end of the conflict, according to the Russian state news agency Ria Ria on Saturday. The first meeting took place on Tuesday in Riad.
The past fall, Ukraine raised the idea of opening his critical minerals to the investment of his allies. This was part of a “victory plan” that sought to place it in the strongest position for negotiations and force Moscow to sit at the table. Trump has adopted the idea and affirms that he wants Ukraine to supply the United States rare earths and others minerals in exchange for financially supporting your war effort.
Last week, Zelenskiy rejected a detailed proposal from the United States that would have seen Washington and US companies receive 50% of the critical minerals of Ukraine, which include graphite, uranium, titanium and lithium, a key component in car batteries electric
Since then a crack has emerged among the leaders, with Trump denouncing Zelenskiy as “a dictator without elections” on Wednesday after Zelenskiy said that Trump was trapped in a Russian misinformation bubble, an answer to the US president suggesting that Ukraine began the war.
With Reuters information.
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