Trump team threatens to cut Ukraine’s chances of interstellar links over Elon Musk on mineral controversy: Report

U.S. negotiators reportedly threatened to cut Ukraine’s access to SpaceX Starlink satellite internet service. The move was due to ongoing negotiations on key minerals entering Ukraine.

what happened: Negotiators from the United States have been pushing Ukraine to provide opportunities for its important minerals. As bargaining chips, they raised the prospect of revoking Ukrainian access to the Starlink Internet system, which is made by Elon Musk‘ SpaceXReuters report.

This development comes after rejecting the U.S. Treasury Secretary’s initial proposal Scott Bessent By Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

At a meeting between the U.S. Special Ukrainian Envoy Keith Kellogg The report said that if no key mineral agreement was reached, Ukraine’s Zelenskiy was warned that it might shut down Starlink services.

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In the ongoing conflict, Starlink is crucial to maintaining Internet access to Ukraine. Ukraine runs on Starlink. They think it’s their North Star,” a source told the publication.

“Losing the interstellar link…will be a huge blow.”

Melinda Haring, a senior researcher at the Atlantic Commission, stressed that Starlink is crucial to Ukraine’s drone operations, which is the cornerstone of its military strategy. “Losing the Star Link will be a game-changer,” she warned.

Why it matters: The United States has been actively involved in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and President Trump warned Zelenskyy to negotiate the end of the war or would otherwise lose Ukraine.

Zelenskyy rejected the Trump administration’s $500 billion in mineral resources in Ukraine as a repayment for wartime aid. On Friday, he confirmed that the U.S. and Ukrainian team were negotiating a deal, and President Trump expressed optimism that the deal would be completed soon.

This has led to a rift between the two leaders, who Trump denounced Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections.”

Read next: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and T-Mobile with Starlink-powered satellite-to-battery service: How much does it cost

Disclaimer: The content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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