Andy Burnham slaps down Donald Trump over Elon Musk Starlink’s Ukraine betrayal
In a call to US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Andy Burnham stressing the need for Ukraine to have the best chance to defend itself, Downing Street has said tonight
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke today(Image: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Andy Burnham has underlined the importance for Ukraine to have full access to Starlink so they can continue to defend themselves against Russia’s full-scale invasion in a call with Donald Trump, Downing Street has said.
The US President had denied instructing tech billionaire Elon Musk to restrict connectivity to Starlink’s military-grade counterpart, Starshield, before saying the tycoon had “put it back”.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has been “betrayed” by Trump and ally Musk, who “deliberately” blocked his country’s access to the military-grade version overnight. Yesterday, he said it had not been fully restored, despite Trump’s claims the matter was resolved.
The satellite internet service is operated by SpaceX, Mr Musk’s aerospace company. It provides high-speed broadband globally and is used by Ukraine for military communications and drone operations.
The Prime Minister this afternoon raised the issue directly with the US president after restrictions placed on Kyiv’s use of the satellite communications system.
Ukraine relies on Starlink to help intercept Russian missile and drone attacks, but faced speed limits last week that significantly curtailed its ability to do so.
Mr Musk has suggested the order to impose caps on the system came from the White House, though the Wall Street Journal reported that the tech billionaire was behind the slowdown.
In a readout of the conversation between the UK and US leaders on Friday, a No 10 spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the United States of America Donald Trump today.
“The Prime Minister underlined the importance for Ukraine to have full access to Starlink so they can continue to defend themselves against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“The Prime Minister recognised the work of President Trump to bring Putin to the negotiation table and the leaders agreed to work together, alongside international partners, to bring an end to the blood.
Mr Zelensky said that Ukrainians could die if the unrestrictive service was not restored. There was confusion about who ordered the slowdown on October 14 and an informal investigation inside the White House was conducted.
Asked on Friday, Trump said: “If there is a problem, I will get it straightened out.”
He then added: “I have not spoken to him [Musk]. I might have to, but I have not. I’ve heard it was fixed, but if it’s not, I’ll speak to him.”
The Wall Street Journal has reported that last week, Mr Musk capped the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network, rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless.
The internet slowdown followed several statements by the Trump administration and Mr Musk that Ukrainian officials saw as hostile to the country, leading Kyiv to immediately suspect the order came either from the president or the world’s richest man.
