US Government Officials Have Threatened to Cut Off Ukraine’s Use of Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet Terminals, Unless Kyiv Grants Washington Access to its Significant Natural Resources. According to Reuters, citing three individuals familiar with the matter, more than 40,000 Starlink terminals have been provided to Ukraine by Elon Musk since 2022 and are being extensively used by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.
During a meeting between Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US National Security Adviser Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, the Ukrainians were informed that the shutdown of the Starlink satellite service would be imminent if they do not sign an agreement on critical resources with the US. One of the sources told Reuters, “Ukraine is heavily reliant on Starlink. They consider it their North Star.” The loss of the service “would be a heavy blow.”
In an effort to secure further military aid from the US, Zelenskyy had offered a preferential partnership to US President Donald Trump for the development of Ukraine’s resources, including rare earths. However, he refused to sign an agreement that would have granted the US a claim to 50% of Ukraine’s natural resources. “I cannot sell our country” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.
Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, described Kyiv’s response as “unacceptable.” He advised Ukrainian officials to “restrain themselves” and sign the mineral agreement. Both Trump and Musk had escalated their criticism of Zelenskyy earlier in the week, calling him a “dictator” and noting that he is extremely unpopular in his own country. According to the US President, Ukraine is not in a position to complain about his resuming direct talks with Russia, after his predecessor Joe Biden had suspended them.
As Zelenskyy acknowledged in early February, about half of Ukraine’s rare earth deposits are under Russian occupation. A recent article by Bloomberg quoted a natural resources expert, Javier Blas, who stated that Trump’s expectations for an agreement were greatly overestimated, as Ukraine “has no significant rare earth deposits, except for small Scandium mines.