 "‘No deal, no internet:’ US threatens to cut Ukraine’s Starlink access over minerals: Report")
American negotiators are flirting with the idea of cutting off Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellite internet system if President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t greenlight the mineral deal with Washington DC, reported Reuters.
The agency reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter, that the prospect was raised during discussions between American and Ukrainian officials after Zelenskyy rejected an initial proposal from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The issue was also raised on Thursday (February 20) during a meeting between Zelenskyy and Keith Kellogg, the US special Ukraine envoy.
“Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star,” Reuters quoted the source as saying. “Losing Starlink … would be a massive blow.”
US billionaire Elon Musk provided Ukraine with access to SpaceX’s Starlink system shortly after its communications services were destroyed by Russia in 2022. Experts believe Starlink is essential to mount Ukraine’s drone attack and shutdown of the service would be a real setback.
Trump doubling down on mineral deal
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for the deal for quite some time now, which would give America access to $500 billion in mineral wealth in exchange for Washington’s aid to Kyiv over the past three years.
Last week, Zelenskyy rejected the deal saying it didn’t provide security guarantees to the war-torn nation. Since then, Trump has been launching scathing attacks on his Ukrainian counterpart, from calling him a “dictator without elections” to “not very important” leader. Trump also blamed Ukraine for starting the war and called Zelenskyy a highly unpopular leader with “approval ratings of just four per cent”.
Zelenskyy responded by accusing Trump of being stuck in a “disinformation bubble”.
US hopeful of a deal ‘very soon’
Earlier on Friday, US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said Ukraine will sign the mineral deal with the US “in the very short term”.“Look, here’s the bottom line, President Zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term, and that is good for Ukraine,” said Waltz at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near the capital Washington DC.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe Trump official said the deal was first floated by Zelenskyy himself under his so-called “victory plan” last year.
(With inputs from agencies)
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