Ukraine's Starlink Access Is a Decision for Elon Musk, Not the White House, Says Rubio
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio says decisions about Ukraine's access to Starlink are in the hands of its parent company, SpaceX, and CEO Elon Musk, not the White House. He was responding to claims that the administration was involved in restricting Kyiv's access to satellite internet services.
Speaking to reporters during a trip to India on Wednesday, Rubio said he was not aware whether the administration knew about the decision beforehand, but called that question '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 said.
The controversy stems from a Wall Street Journal report 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.
The Journal quoted one person as saying Musk, President Donald Trump and White House officials discussed the matter beforehand, and two people as saying Musk and the president discussed the matter in the days after the slowdown.
Reuters, however, has quoted two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter as saying the decision ultimately came from the White House. That version was also confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but denied by the Trump administration.
Zelenskyy adviser Serhii Beskrestnov wrote on Telegram 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 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 wrote. Ukraine's Ministry of Defence confirmed the resumption of services on October 15.
Musk had previously said on X that 'any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS (President of the United States).' In other words, there is a clear tension between Musk's account and Rubio's over whose hands the decision lies in.
Trump, asked by reporters on Wednesday whether Musk ordered the slowdown, said he did not know who did it but added, 'I was not involved.'
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Tuesday also portrayed the Starlink cutoff as a commercial matter. '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 said.
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. Rubio suggested on Saturday that Ukraine never had access to Starshield, while Zelenskyy has said both services had been disrupted in Ukraine.
Taken together, conflicting accounts remain over who bears responsibility for a decision about a technology service that is vital on the battlefield — Musk, the White House or the military authorities. That ambiguity is now at the centre of the dispute.
