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Ukraine Sought Trump’s Approval to Use Starlink on Russian Territory, Zelenskyy Says
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Ukraine had sought US political approval to use Starlink on Russian territory for defense purposes after receiving information that SpaceX had initially agreed to such use, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during the meeting with press on August 22.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry approached him in the first half of 2026 and asked him to discuss the issue directly with US President Donald Trump.
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“In the first half of this year, I received a request from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense to find an opportunity to reach an agreement with President Trump on the use of Starlink on the territory of the Russian Federation for the purposes of our defense,” Zelenskyy said.
He said he had been informed that SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, had apparently already approved the proposal and that political-level authorization was still required.
The Ukrainian president stated he subsequently raised the issue during a meeting with Trump and argued that expanding Starlink access could help bring the war closer to an end by reducing Russia’s ability to sustain it.
“I am grateful to the President of America—we had a long conversation on this topic. I was able to assure him that this would help bring the end of the war closer by correspondingly reducing Russia’s ability to prolong the war,” Zelenskyy said.
The two sides subsequently agreed that Washington would hold internal discussions on the proposal if SpaceX was prepared to proceed. Zelenskyy said implementing the plan would require more than $1 billion in funding, which he later discussed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.
However, Zelenskyy said the situation changed by the time of his second meeting with Trump. According to the Ukrainian president, Trump told him that Musk had refused to allow Ukraine to use Starlink on Russian territory.
“He said that I had supposedly deceived him because Musk had refused Ukraine the use of Starlink on Russian territory. I went back to our Ministry of Defense, and they said that perhaps that was indeed the case,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said he was subsequently told that Musk regarded such use of Starlink as potentially constituting a major escalation against Russia.
“As far as we know, Elon Musk believed that this could be a major escalation by Ukraine against the Russian Federation—that is how it was explained to me. He said that he was in favor of stopping the war, not continuing it. We are also in favor of stopping the war, not continuing it, but this requires the appropriate tools,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian drones commonly known as “Starlink planes” are currently limited to operations within Ukrainian territory. Extending Starlink coverage could expand their operational range and allow them to conduct missions deeper inside Russia.
Under the proposal, Ukrainian UAVs relying on Starlink for connectivity and control could reach and strike Russian military targets at greater distances. Ukraine maintains that expanding these capabilities would help target infrastructure used to support Russian attacks farther from its borders.
The Ukrainian president stressed that the information he initially received from the Defense Ministry had differed from what Trump later told him about SpaceX’s position.
Despite the disagreement, Zelenskyy said discussions with Trump and the US administration remain ongoing, although the outcome is difficult to predict.
“It is important that we are now in dialogue with President Trump and the American side, but it is difficult to predict how things will develop—we are working. Today, all of this is on the side of the US president, and they already have their own internal discussions,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy added that several European leaders had also advocated for the proposal with Trump. He said French President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue during a meeting with the US president in Versailles and sought to explain how the plan could contribute to ending the war.
“Emmanuel did everything to explain our idea and how it could bring the end of the war closer, and President Trump said: ‘Okay, I will support the idea with Starlink.’ We greatly appreciate this,” Zelenskyy said.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb also assisted in advocating for the proposal, according to Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian president said he had ultimately involved around 10 foreign leaders in efforts to secure Trump’s support.
The president also added Russia is developing an alternative to Starlink in cooperation with China and expects the system to be ready by December 2026.
At the same time, Ukraine is working with a European country on a separate communications project, which has already entered the testing stage. Zelenskyy stressed that while Ukraine intends to continue using Starlink, it is also developing European alternatives as part of broader efforts to prepare for emerging technological threats.
The discussions over Starlink come amid broader concerns over access to the satellite communications service for Ukraine. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski recently criticized Musk after Poland was removed from Starlink’s European roaming zone.
The decision raised concerns about its potential impact on satellite connectivity for Ukraine’s military, as Warsaw provides around $50 million annually to finance approximately half of the 42,000 Starlink terminals operating in Ukraine.
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