Oct 22 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump called billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starlink, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing US officials.
The White House and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Starlink system was working more normally on Thursday, shortly after the Trump-Musk conversation, according to US and Ukrainian officials cited by the Journal.
Some Ukrainian officials told the newspaper the system had not been restored to full functionality but was working at higher speeds than under the cap.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier on Thursday that Starlink speed had not been restored for Ukraine, adding that he hoped for talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the coming days.
Trump told Musk he was frustrated the system’s speeds remained capped at around 100 mph (160 kph), the Journal said, citing officials.
Ukraine uses Starlink for battlefield communications and drone operations. Restricting the satellite service hampered the country’s attack and air defense drone missions against Russia.
Trump has denied being involved in the decision concerning the slowdown. Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that decisions regarding Ukraine’s access to Starlink were up to its parent company SpaceX and its CEO Musk, not the White House.
Zelenskiy’s relations with Washington have sunk to new lows after Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow. Trump has also told Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries and urged Ukrainians to replace Zelenskiy.
(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; Editing by Alistair Bell and Edmund Klamann)
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