Trump said Starlink has been restored, while Zelensky had stated a few hours earlier that the problem persisted
US President Donald Trump announced that SpaceX has lifted the restrictions on the use of Starlink satellite communications in Ukraine. However, just a few hours before this statement, Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stated that the restrictions on the system's operation had not yet been removed.
Trump says Starlink has been restarted, while Zelensky reported a few hours earlier that the problem still persists
According to DW, Trump told journalists on October 22 that Starlink operations had been restored. However, he did not disclose whether he had personally discussed the matter with SpaceX head Elon Musk.
Citing a report by The Washington Post, journalists asked Trump about his conversation with Musk.
"I have no comment on that. Whether I called or someone else did — it doesn't matter. I think what matters is that he restored everything again," the US president said.
Meanwhile, Zelensky stated on the same day, a few hours before Trump's statement, that Starlink's operation had not yet been fully restored following the restrictions introduced in mid-October.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the problems began to be observed on the night of October 14. This is less about internet data transmission speeds and more about satellite communication failures on fast-moving devices.
This created difficulties for the Ukrainian armed forces in using unmanned aerial vehicles. The Ukrainian military uses the capabilities of Starlink and Starshield, which is designed for military communications, for communication and controlling drones.
The Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal reported that the initiative to introduce the restrictions came from Elon Musk. According to their sources, the entrepreneur discussed the matter with the Pentagon and secured its support. The White House, however, stated that it had not issued instructions to restrict the satellite network's operation in Ukraine.
In mid-October, Kyiv also stated that it was experiencing problems in sharing intelligence with the United States. According to Zelensky, for several nights Ukraine received no warnings from its partners about Russia launching ballistic missiles.
Trump administration officials attributed this situation to weather conditions and software issues.
In an interview published by Bloomberg on October 18, Zelensky said that the US administration's recent steps looked like an attempt to push Ukraine to surrender. At the same time, he did not confirm that this was the specific goal of the American partners.