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Volodymyr Zelensky said kyiv was “done” supporting a ceasefire on energy targets announced by Donald Trump after Russia ignored him.
Trump made a surprise announcement on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to end attacks on energy, after which kyiv suspended strikes on refineries while Russia continued to launch air attacks across Ukraine.
“The blockade (on attacks on refineries) is lifted. It’s over,” Mr Zelensky told the Financial Times, after Russian strikes on power plants cut off electricity to hundreds of thousands of people.
It is the latest clear indication of kyiv’s frustration with Trump, after the Ukrainian president said he felt betrayed by the decision to restrict the Ukrainian military’s use of SpaceX’s Starlink.
By effectively walking away from Trump’s demand that Ukraine end attacks on refineries, Mr. Zelensky risks deepening the biggest rift between kyiv and Washington since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Trump has described the ceasefire as a demand for both Moscow and kyiv, his public comments have focused primarily on Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries, which he said over the weekend “would do well to stop.”
Ukrainians fear that the growing divide between Washington and kyiv could have serious consequences on the battlefield, where the Ukrainian military still depends on technology supplied by the United States.
kyiv officials also said they had not received the usual warnings from Western allies about the arrival of Russian missiles, which rely on American satellite sensors.
At the same time, military-grade Starlink receivers stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for their onboard guidance systems on Ukrainian territory.
White House sources and SpaceX owner Elon Musk have both denied being behind the restriction, but Mr Zelensky made clear he believed it was a political decision, saying: “It wasn’t a technical problem, it was the will.”
Musk previously blamed Trump for restrictions introduced on Starlink speeds for members of the Ukrainian military.
The service provides high-speed Internet connection and was used for government and military communications by Ukraine in the war against Russia.
The outage came as Trump demanded that Ukraine completely end long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski accused Musk of “playing politics”, but the tech billionaire has now denied any involvement in the decision.
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or use are decided by the US military and the US president,” Musk wrote on
“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Use of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as this would be inappropriate for a commercial enterprise.”
He previously said that “no matter how much I disagree with Ukrainian politics, Starlink will never turn off its terminals… We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.” »
Musk then retweeted a message from another X user that said, among other things, “SpaceX is a private company with no obligation to help Ukraine, but it stepped up its efforts when governments dragged their feet.” »
X’s owner captioned the repost: “True.”
Volodymyr Zelensky said he felt betrayed by the decision in an interview with Piers Morgan and that the shutdown meant “people would die” as a result.
Several combat missions failed Tuesday evening due to the shutdown, a military technology adviser to Zelensky said. The Guardian.
A US official told Axios that the Trump administration was not involved in Starlink’s limitations.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
“This is not the right side of history,” Zelensky said. Piers Morgan uncensored. Asked if he felt betrayed by the decisions made last week, he replied: “Really, yes.”
The outage came just as Ukraine was hit by ballistic missiles, despite Trump’s insistence on an energy ceasefire between the two countries.
Poland said it was paying for Ukraine’s Starlink subscription, which is crucial for guiding long-range drone strikes that have severely disrupted Russian logistics.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?” Sikorski wrote “in an article on X Wednesday. “As European customers, we are watching you. »
The restriction comes against the backdrop of Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russia and allow global diesel exports, with the United States to buy 300,000 tonnes of the fuel.
He faced criticism from several quarters, including from the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who told Washington that “Russia started this war. We should not forget that.”
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