War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday suggested a violation of Starshield’s terms of service could have led to the speed of the communication systems used by Ukraine being throttled.
The Cabinet official’s comments come as conflicting accounts have emerged over who ordered a slowdown of Starshield, the military version of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network developed by SpaceX under contract with the War Department and used by Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“We haven’t pulled anything back,” Hegseth said. “There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied to, and that’s where Starlink has the option to make those decisions.”
“Nothing’s changed from our view,” the secretary said. “We haven’t made any directives or anything like that, and we wish the Ukrainians obviously success.”
Musk, President Donald Trump, and other administration officials have faced questions over who authorized the restrictions, which have hampered Ukraine’s ability to operate drones used in offensive missions and to intercept Russian attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been blunt about who he believes is responsible for the disruptions, saying, “All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down support for us.”
Zelensky had initially demanded Musk address the issue when it first arose, but the SpaceX founder pointed out that Starshield is owned and operated by the U.S. government. Trump has also maintained he did not impose speed restrictions on Ukraine’s access to Starshield.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Musk personally ordered the slowdown last week, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The decision reportedly blindsided Ukrainian officials and created confusion within the Trump administration. Musk and Trump discussed the restrictions before and after they were imposed, the outlet reported.
Hegseth also disputed on Tuesday Zelensky’s claim that the war secretary is withholding the delivery of more Patriot interceptor missiles for Ukraine’s air defense system despite NATO already paying for them.
“There’s a lot of things that have been said in the press that are not true about the Department of War,” Hegseth said. “We haven’t changed our posture in any way towards the Ukrainians. But certainly, with things like interceptors — we want to make sure our guys have the most possible.”
ZELENSKY SAYS HEGSETH BLOCKING MISSILES, STILL ‘NO EXPLANATION’ FOR STARSHIELD LIMITS
Ukraine has depleted its stock of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors, leaving the country susceptible to aerial attacks from Russia. Zelensky placed the blame directly on Hegseth for the delayed arrival of the interceptors during a virtual meeting with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.
The dispute over Ukrainian defense needs comes as tensions boil between Washington and Kyiv over Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. Trump has criticized the attacks on Russian refineries, blaming them for contributing to rising fuel prices, while Ukrainian officials have defended their military operations as necessary to counter Moscow’s aggression.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
