US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk clashed publicly with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski over Starlink. The public spat started after Radoslaw Sikorski claimed that Poland pays for Ukraine to use the services of Starlink, which provides crucial internet connectivity to Kyiv and its military. He further went on to claim that Elon Musk is planning to shut down Starlink terminals in Ukraine. This irked both US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Starlink CEO Elon Musk. The duo sharply responded to Sikorski, dismissing Sikorski’s concerns about Starlink being cut off. US Secretary accused Poland’s foreign minister of “making things up”.
Rubio went on to suggest Ukraine as ungrateful, in a strong rebuke and that Ukraine may need an alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service if it becomes unreliable. He also urged Ukraine to be thankful for the assistance thus far. “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” Rubio said. “And say thank you because without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”
Sikorski retaliated by saying that Poland will look for alternative suppliers if SpaceX turns out to be an unreliable provider of Starlink satellite internet for Ukraine, as per The Kyiv Independent.
Elon Musk tells Radoslaw Sikorsk to keep quite
Elon Musk, too, responded, claiming that Poland only pays a “small fraction” of the cost for Ukraine’s Starlink access. “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost,” Musk said. “And there is no substitute for Starlink.” Musk warned that the entire front line in Ukraine would collapse if he shut off Starlink services.
Earlier, iIn a post on Twitter, Elon Musk said that that no matter how much he disagreed on Ukraine policy, Starlink would never turn off its terminals. “Exactly! To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals. I am simply stating that, without Starlink, the Ukrainian lines would collapse, as the Russians can jam all other communications! We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip,” wrote Elon Musk.
Poland PM cautions ‘friends’
Post the open dispute, Polish prime minister called on “friends” to respect their allies and not be arrogant. In a post on Twitter, which mentioned nobody by name but came a day after an extraordinary social media spat between top US and Polish officials over Starlink. “True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even for the smaller and weaker ones,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote in English on X. “Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it.”