Elon Musk refuted a Reuters report claiming he planned to cut off Ukraine’s Starlink access to pressure them into a rare earths agreement.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, has accused Reuters of “lying” regarding their report that he intended to threaten Ukraine by shutting off their Starlink internet access. The alleged threat was meant to gain leverage in ongoing negotiations about natural resources.
Reuters reported on Saturday, citing three anonymous U.S. officials, that Ukrainian officials were told by Keith Kellogg, a Trump envoy, during a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev this week about an “imminent shutoff” of Starlink if they didn’t agree to a rare earths deal with Washington.
Musk responded on X, denying the existence of any such plan and accusing Reuters of “lying.”
“This is false. Reuters is lying. They are second only to AP (Associated Propaganda) as legacy news liars,” the billionaire posted.
Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, SpaceX has been providing Starlink internet to the Ukrainian military, delivering over 40,000 terminals. These terminals quickly became essential for Kiev’s military command and control.
Starlink systems have also been utilized in combat. Satellite terminals have been observed attached to aerial and sea drones used by the Ukrainian military, providing reliable and jam-resistant control access.
SpaceX reportedly secured a new Pentagon contract late last year to expand Ukraine’s access to the Starlink network. A Bloomberg report stated that 3,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine were granted access to Starshield, a more secure and militarized version of the system, under the agreement.
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