Trump Backed The Idea Of Using Starlink To Launch Strikes Against Russia
- 23.08.2026, 11:20
Zelenskyy says that Musk must now give his approval.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed details of the negotiations regarding the possibility of using the Starlink satellite communications system to launch strikes deep into Russian territory. He spoke about this during a meeting with journalists, according to a correspondent unian.net.
According to Zelenskyy, in the first half of this year, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense suggested that he explore the possibility of reaching an agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the use of Starlink for these purposes. At the time, the defense ministry stated that a corresponding agreement had already been reached with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. However, as it turned out during Zelenskyy’s talks with Trump, Musk had not actually granted Ukraine such permission.
“I had a second meeting with the U.S. president. He said that I had supposedly deceived him because Musk had refused to allow Ukraine to use Starlink on Russian territory. I returned to our Ministry of Defense, and there they said that perhaps that was indeed the case… As far as we know, Elon Musk believed that this could lead to a serious escalation against Russia on Ukraine’s part—that’s how it was explained to me. He said he supports ending the war, not continuing it. “We, too, are in favor of ending the war, not continuing it, but to do so, we need the appropriate tools,” Zelenskyy said.
The president noted that Ukraine is currently continuing its dialogue with Trump on this issue, but it is still difficult to predict whether Kyiv will receive the necessary authorization from Washington.
“I did what I was asked to do. I did it during two meetings. President Macron also did this for me with President Trump in Versailles. They had a major meeting. Emmanuel did everything he could to explain our plan and how it could bring the war closer to an end, and President Trump said, ‘All right, I’ll support the idea with Starlink.’ We really appreciate that. And Alex Stubbs also helped. “We all worked to get President Trump’s approval, and I’m grateful that he really considered this perspective and saw a positive opportunity to bring the war closer to an end,” Zelenskyy added.
Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Ukraine was seeking permission from Elon Musk to use drones equipped with the Starlink system to strike ballistic missile launchers up to 200 km deep into Russian territory.
The publication noted, however, that while Musk allows Ukraine to use Starlink to defend its own territory, he does not consent to the system being used to strike Russian territory.