Trump says Musk restored Ukraine’s Starlink access amid Russia war

United States President Donald Trump has said that tech mogul Elon Musk has restored Ukraine’s access to Starlink, a satellite internet service that plays a key role in Kyiv’s war effort and air defences.

On Thursday, Trump declined to discuss a report from The Wall Street Journal that he had called Musk and instructed him to end restrictions on Ukraine’s connection.

The news outlet reported that Starlink services returned to normal following the call.

“I don’t want to comment on it, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn’t make any difference, I guess. The bottom line, he put it back,” Trump told reporters when asked about the report.

On October 13, Ukrainian officials announced that sudden restrictions on Starlink services had left the country’s military scrambling.

Though the system came back online, connectivity has reportedly remained spotty.

Questions have persisted about where the decision to restrict access came from, with Musk and the Trump administration officials trading blame.

Trump has denied ordering restrictions on Ukraine’s access to Starlink.

“Well, I don’t know if it was anybody, but it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” he said on Friday. “And from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said this week that decisions about Starlink’s speed and access belong to Musk.

“The bottom line is that that is governed by a private commercial contract as to how ⁠their stuff can be used and what speeds they’ll allow it to be used at,” Rubio said on Wednesday.

But Musk has denied any responsibility, stating that Starshield, the military-grade version of Starlink, is “owned and controlled by the US government”.

“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he said in a social media post on October 14, using the acronym for “president of the United States”.

The Starlink speed caps and restrictions have also raised concerns that Trump, or the president’s right-wing allies, might seek to leverage such technology to pressure Ukraine into complying with US demands.

Trump has had a contentious relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, repeatedly calling him “difficult” in comparison to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine has been locked in a slow-grinding war with Russia since February 2022, after Putin launched a full-scale invasion of the Eastern European country.

While Europe has backed Ukraine’s defence against the invasion, Trump has suggested Ukraine itself could be to blame for the conflict.

In 2025, for instance, Trump blamed Ukraine’s ambitions of joining NATO. “ I actually think that that was the thing that caused the start of the war,” he said at the time.

More recently, Trump posted on Truth Social that it was Zelenskyy’s fault the war had not yet ended. “He doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” Trump wrote.

As the war continues, Trump has been criticised by Democrats and some members of his own Republican Party for easing US pressure on Russia.

Recently, his administration issued a series of announcements to buy Russian diesel and ease restrictions on Russia’s energy sector.

Those decisions come as Trump is struggling with the political fallout of high fuel prices caused by his decision to join Israel in launching a war on Iran.

He has also suggested he would be open to a trilateral meeting with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which would be a first for the three leaders.