Ukraine’s access to Starlink a decision for Elon Musk, Rubio says

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio notes decisions concerning Ukraine's access to Starlink are in the hands of its parent firm, SpaceX, and CEO Elon Musk, not the White House, in response to claims it was involved in restricting Kyiv's access.

Key points

• This version was additionally confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but denied by the Trump administration.
• Rubio suggested on Saturday that Ukraine never had access to Starshield while Zelenskyy has remarked both services had been disrupted in Ukraine.
• Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Tuesday additionally portrayed the Starlink cutoff as a commercial matter.
• Ukraine's Ministry of Defence confirmed the resumption of services on October 15.
• Musk had previously remarked on X that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS (President of the United States)."

Rubio's comments on Wednesday may growth scrutiny of US decision-making to potentially throttle the high-tech system. It allows Kyiv to intercept incoming projectiles and target Russian launchers.

For context, the Wall Street Journal documented on Tuesday that Musk had ordered a slowdown of Starshield, a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukraine relies on for defence against Russian missile attacks.

Meanwhile, the Journal quoted one person as saying Musk, US President Donald Trump and White House authorities discussed the matter beforehand and two residents as saying Musk and the president discussed the matter in the days after the slowdown.

Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency has quoted two US authorities and a Western official briefed on the matter as saying the decision ultimately came from the White House.

Zelenskyy adviser Serhii Beskrestnov wrote on the Telegram messaging app on October 14 that SpaceX had imposed a limit of 160 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour) on Starshield services. That affected guidance systems for drones that Ukraine uses to intercept Russian drones flying at far greater speeds.

"Our defence forces received no prior warning regarding this restriction, and it has led to the disruption of a number of missions, " Beskrestnov remarked.

Rubio remarked to journalists during a trip to India on Wednesday that he was not aware if the administration knew concerning the decision beforehand but noted it was "irrelevant".

"The bottom line is that that is governed by a private commercial contract as to how their stuff can be used and what speeds they'll allow it to be used at, " he remarked.

Trump, asked by reporters on Wednesday whether Musk ordered the slowdown, remarked he did not know who did it but "I was not involved."

"There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to, and that's where Starlink has the option to make those decisions, " he remarked.

One significant point of confusion relates to the difference between SpaceX's Starshield and Starlink products. Starshield is essentially a military-grade version of Starlink developed for the Pentagon.

In short, ukraine's access to Starlink a decision for Elon Musk, Rubio says is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.