Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the slowdown of Ukraine's Starlink and Starshield satellite service was ordered by the U.S. government, a charge Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called "very reckless" on the same program.
Speaking from Kyiv, Zelenskyy told moderator Kristen Welker: "Of course the message came from government. I don't know from whom, what cabinets." He said Ukraine's generals and government believe "it was the message from American government to limit this speed, and technically SpaceX did it." Asked whether the service had been fully restored, he answered, "No, no," adding that speeds are capped at about 161 kilometers per hour.
Ukrainian officials say the cap was imposed without warning late Tuesday. Terminals moving faster than about 160 km/h (100 mph) lost connection, disrupting drone strikes and interceptor drones.
SpaceX owner Elon Musk wrote on X that Starshield is "owned and controlled by the US government" and that limits are decided by the U.S. military "and ultimately POTUS." Reuters, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official, reported that the order came from inside the White House. A senior U.S. official said "no such request was ever made by the president." President Trump said, "It wasn't me and I don't think it was Elon." Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that "nobody ordered" the slowdown.
Bessent told Welker that Trump and Rubio "have categorically said that no one in the Trump administration did that," and warned that Zelenskyy should be "very careful" about making such statements.
Zelenskyy said a separate pause in U.S. intelligence sharing has ended.
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, official portrait (Wikimedia Commons)
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