Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pitched President Donald Trump and other American officials on helping Ukraine win permission from tech titan Elon Musk to make use of his Starlink satellite communications system to guide strikes inside Russia.
The push for expanded use of Starlink comes as Zelenskyy looks for alternate ways to mitigate the necessity for U.S. Patriot air defense systems to thwart the regular barrage of Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian territory. The interceptors are in shorter supply because the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran continues to rage, and Trump on Friday appeared to back away from a recent commitment to present Ukraine a license to supply them.
Zelenskyy made the request on to Trump in an Oval Office meeting this week during his whirlwind trip to Washington, based on one person conversant in the matter. He also told lawmakers afterward Capitol Hill that he wanted Starlink to assist with targeting inside Russia, based on an individual within the room. Each officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to debate the sensitive private discussions. Trump didn’t commit to Zelenskyy’s request.
Zelenskyy has been pushing to expand Starlink use for weeks
Musk has allowed the Ukrainians to make use of Starlink inside their very own territory, including in Ukrainian regions occupied by the Russians, but has restricted use of the satellite system inside Russia.
Zelenskyy has been making the case for expanded use of Starlink with U.S. officials for at the very least several weeks. The White House, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and officials at SpaceX, which owns Starlink, didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment on Zelenskyy’s request. Zelenskyy’s efforts to get Musk’s permission to make use of Starlink to assist with Ukrainian attacks inside Russia was first reported by The Atlantic.
Granting permission for an expanded use of Starlink could include risk for Musk. The Associated Press reported in December that two NATO-nation intelligence services suspect Russia is developing a brand new anti-satellite weapon to focus on Musk’s Starlink constellation with destructive orbiting clouds of shrapnel.
The intelligence findings were shown to the AP given that the services involved weren’t identified, and the news organization was not in a position to independently confirm the findings’ conclusions.
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Russia views Starlink as a grave threat, the findings indicate. The hundreds of low-orbiting satellites have been pivotal for Ukraine’s survival against Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Ukrainian leader also pitched US lawmakers during recent visit
Zelenskyy had traveled to Washington to attend Sen. Lindsey Graham’s memorial service and used the visit to examine in with Trump and allies on Capitol Hill.
Zelenskyy visited the Capitol following his meeting with Trump within the White House earlier within the day. Senators said the requests the Ukrainian president made were just like what he had told them earlier in July during a gathering on the NATO summit in Turkey.
“They need access to Starlink long run to make their longer-range and intermediate-range systems more accurate,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, who’s a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“They like to be exactly on course, versus, in the final area,” Rounds said. “He made that pretty clear.”
Zelenskyy spoke with lawmakers late Tuesday evening ahead of a Senate vote on a punishing latest Russia sanctions package, which advanced toward a final vote expected next week.
Zelenskyy also reiterated Ukraine’s need for more U.S. Patriots and the previously discussed licensing agreement so Ukraine could start producing the system in house, said Rounds, who was a part of the delegation of U.S. lawmakers on the NATO conference in Ankara.
“There was a consistency from what President Zelenskyy shared with us in Turkey two weeks ago to what he shared with us again once more, when it comes to what their needs are,” Rounds said. “It’s pretty straightforward.”
Trump appears to edge away from Patriots licensing commitment
But Trump appeared to edge away from the sooner commitment to present Ukraine a license to make Patriots for its military needs during a gathering of his Cabinet on the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, on Friday.
Trump on the NATO summit in Turkey declared “we’ll give them the precise to make Patriots” to counter missile attacks from Russia of their greater than four-year war.
The president told reporters on Friday that the licensing matter stays under discussion and said he hasn’t made a call on it.
“We’re talking about it. However it’s a tough thing to present away that form of technology,” Trump said.
Trump’s relationship has improved with Zelenskyy as Ukraine has gained strength on the battlefield with Russia in recent months. And Zelenskyy has sought to portray that his war with Russia is connected to the U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran.
U.S. intelligence has shown that Tehran provided Russia with drones to make use of against Ukraine. More recently, Russia has prepared to ship drones for Iran, including upgraded versions of the technology that Tehran originally supplied to Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, based on U.S. and European officials.
Zelenskyy said ahead of this week’s visit to Washington that he’d share evidence with the US that shows Russia is assisting Iran in targeting U.S. bases within the Middle East via satellite surveillance.
Zelenskyy also has been making the case to the Trump administration that his country is well positioned to assist the U.S. counter Iranian drone attacks on U.S. bases within the Middle East and Gulf allies’ infrastructure.
“He has been very emphatic they’re going to provide more aid to us in unmanned warfare, aerial unmanned warfare, which has been so instrumental in Iran — his people have been there, they’ve been providing technology and know-how — and so they’re ready, willing and in a position to do it in even greater magnitude,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, who sits on the Armed Services Committee. “He was very emphatic on that time.”
AP writers John Leicester in Paris and Emma Burrows in London contributed reporting.
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