Axios: Musk initiated Starlink speed reduction, Trump did not object

Confirmation of information on Musk's initiative

US media outlet Axios confirmed data previously published by the British The Telegraph. According to this information, SpaceX head Elon Musk made a proposal to slow down the operation of the Starlink system in Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump expressed no objections to the implementation of this idea.

The publication released the relevant article on Saturday.

Mutual accusations and ambiguity of the situation

According to the resource, Ukrainian officials received conflicting explanations regarding the reasons for the deterioration of satellite internet performance. The US presidential administration and SpaceX leadership are, allegedly, accusing each other.

“SpaceX claims that it is a technical issue. But our contacts in the company say that it is coming from the White House. When we ask the White House, they say it is Elon,” one Ukrainian official told the publication.

Official position of Washington

On Friday, Donald Trump stated that the White House is not involved in limiting the use of the system by Ukraine. A representative of the administration also refuted the information from The Telegraph, calling it untrue.

“This is absolutely false. As President Trump said, we have not slowed down Starlink in any way, and the service is currently working,” the White House representative emphasised.

At the same time, a source familiar with the details of the discussion told Axios that Trump did not object to Musk's initiative to limit the bandwidth of the Starlink and Starshield networks used by Ukrainian military.

Consequences for the military and tests in the EU

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the Starlink speed remains limited to 161 kilometres per hour. Such parameters do not allow Ukrainian interceptors of jet suicide drones to operate, and also hinder the delivery of water and provisions to troops at the front.

On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed journalists that Ukrainian military conducted testing of the Starlink system in vehicles on the territory of European Union countries. The test results showed that there are no speed limitations within the EU.