Zelensky accuses SpaceX of lying about Starshield – and claims US launched Donbass-NATO deal | Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused SpaceX of not telling the truth about restrictions on Ukraine’s Starshield satellite system, saying the decision to impose speed limits appears to be “political” rather than “technical.”

Speaking on Friday, Ukraine’s president said restrictions affecting Ukrainian drones had been in effect for five days. They could no longer fly at speeds above 100 mph (161 km/h), he explained, and connections at higher speeds were lost.

As a result, Russian Shahed jet-powered drones could no longer be intercepted. Ukraine’s medium-range strikes against military targets in Russian-occupied territory were also seriously affected, he added.

Speaking to the Guardian and other journalists at the presidential palace in kyiv, Zelenskyy said he had asked his military leaders to raise the issue with Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, as well as the Pentagon and the US State Department.

There was “no clear explanation” as to why Ukraine’s operations were limited. He said SpaceX had told Kyiv there were “no restrictions.” This claim, Zelenskyy suggested, was false, with problems detected across “the entire front line.”

“There have been discussions with the company at an institutional level. The Department of Defense spoke with SpaceX. They said, ‘We’re not imposing any restrictions.’ They say it’s some kind of technical problem. We don’t think that’s the case,” Zelensky said.

He added: “The question is not whether we believe them or not. There may be additional checks. But every day we test this in different directions. Every day we get the same confirmation. So these are not isolated cases; they are widespread.”

Ukraine suspects the slowdown is a deliberate U.S. tactic, designed to pressure Zelensky into making concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This follows a similar issue last month and coincided with US-brokered talks last week in Abu Dhabi between Ukrainian and Russian representatives.

The Kremlin insists that Ukraine abandon the entire eastern Donbass region.

But Zelensky has categorically ruled out ceding more land to Russian “terrorists.” He also revealed that US negotiators, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and real estate developer Steve Witkoff, had asked whether Ukraine was willing to give up Donbass in exchange for NATO membership or NATO-like security guarantees.

The details of the proposal were vague, Zelenskyy said. They do not appear to involve U.S. peacekeeping troops on the ground, he added. He said the war could only end with a ceasefire agreement, accompanied by meaningful security guarantees, signed by Western partners.

Zelensky also rejected an offer from Putin for a “humanitarian mission” to the eastern town of Kostiantynivka, calling it a ploy. Russia called a five-day ceasefire, modeled on last month’s truce in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, from which civilians were evacuated.

“This is an absolutely primitive move. Putin just wants us to leave Kostiantynivka so they can move in and occupy the whole city like this,” Zelenskyy said. He said civilians had already fled the area as heavy street-to-street fighting continued, leading to huge Russian casualties.

Zelensky said he had proposed repeating the Olechky truce in nearby Russian-occupied villages and towns in southern Ukraine along the Dnipro River. Putin rejected this proposal. Its real goal was to engulf Kostiantynivka and the Ukrainian garrison towns of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Zelenskyy said.

He also called Russian attempts to discuss European security architecture — a topic raised last week by the Trump administration — “concerning.” The Kremlin has called on NATO to return to its pre-1997 configuration, before Eastern European countries, including the Baltics, joined the alliance.

Putin first made this demand in 2021, on the eve of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Its revival after nearly five years of full-scale war, Zelensky said, was an alarming signal, indicative of imperial thinking. “Putin’s desire to change the borders in Europe is a fact,” Zelensky said, emphasizing: “We cannot turn everything upside down.”

The Ukrainian president said his recent conversations with European leaders met in Dublin had brought tangible results. They included promises from Denmark to provide munitions for F-16 jets – used to shoot down Russian drones – as well as energy support programs for kyiv and other cities.

Russia was “betting everything” on its winter campaign, he added. In recent months, Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian cities, aiming to force civilians to capitulate. The US Congress could pressure Putin to de-escalate the situation by passing sanctions laws and providing weapons to Ukraine, Zelensky said.

On Saturday evening, Kushner said the United States was focused on facilitating direct engagement between Russia and European nations on the war in Ukraine, following meetings involving Washington, Moscow and kyiv this week.