‘Say thank you:’ Social media war erupts between Polish foreign minister, Rubio over Kyiv's Starlink access

A social media spat erupted between Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday (March 9) over Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite service.

It all started when Sikorski took to X to express his frustration over hints by US officials and billionaire Elon Musk that Ukraine’s access to the vital communication system can be cut off if Kyiv doesn’t negotiate a minerals deal with Washington. The foreign minister warned that Poland will be forced to look for alternatives if SpaceX continues to be such an unreliable partner.

“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year,” Sikorski wrote on X.

“The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” the minister further stated.

However, this public criticism of US administration and SpaceX didn’t go down well with Marco Rubio, who accused Sikorski of “making things up” and being “ungrateful” for US help.

“No-one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” Rubio wrote in response.

“And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now,” Rubio added.

Musk’s warning over Starlink access

Sikorski’s criticism of SpaceX on Sunday was apparently triggered by Musk’s assertion earlier in the day that Ukraine’s frontline would collapse if their access to Starlink is restricted.

Responding to criticism that Musk was only interested in criticising Ukraine and not Russia, Musk wrote, “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off."

“What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose,” he continued. “Anyone who really cares, really thinks and really understands wants the meat grinder to stop. PEACE NOW!!”

Last month, it was reported that US officials were threatening Kyiv to cut off Ukrainian forces’ access to vital Starlink network to press it to sign the minerals deal.

Following the spat between Sikorski and Rubio, Musk was quick to back the secretary of state.

“Absolutely correct,” Musk wrote in response to Rubio’s dressing-down of the Polish foreign minister.

In a separate reply to Sikorski’s post, Musk wrote, “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”