Abstract:
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Denys Sienik, Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, sent an urgent message to U.S. lawmakers: Ukraine’s military-grade Starlink terminals were suddenly restricted in use, and he did not know the reason. Senik warned that the change would give Russia an advantage in the war and make it harder for Kiev to intercept attacks against Ukrainian civilians.
By the morning rush hour in Washington, other Ukrainian officials were already beginning to suspect the worst-case scenario: President Trump might order Elon Musk to limit Ukraine's ability to use the Starlink satellite system. Musk owns the company that operates the Starlink service.
While these speculations have not been confirmed, they highlight how far U.S. relations with Ukraine have deteriorated in the past few weeks as Trump seeks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In recent days, Trump has offered to buy Russian oil in a lucrative diesel deal, called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to step down and announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which Moscow almost immediately violated.
The result: Ukraine is angry, U.S. allies are uneasy, and divisions within the Republican Party over Trump's foreign policy are widening as the midterm elections loom.
“This is a major problem and we will do everything we can to solve it,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa.
Fitzpatrick, who is facing a fierce re-election campaign, said that if it is finally confirmed that the US government has imposed speed restrictions on Ukraine's use of military-grade Starlink services, Congress will take action.
He said: "If we start cutting off communications support to Ukraine, there will be consequences. Mark my words."
When asked what the specific consequences were, Fitzpatrick said Congress could block funding to any federal agency responsible.
"If these agencies don't fulfill their responsibilities, they won't get funding," he said.
SpaceX declined to comment on the incident on Wednesday. However, Musk posted on social media that the restrictions on the use of the Starlink military platform "Starshield" are set by the Pentagon, and the final decision rests with Trump himself.
Musk did not mention Ukraine.
He wrote: "The Star Shield system is owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Any restrictions on speed or use are determined by the U.S. military and ultimately by the President of the United States."
The White House declined to answer questions about the Starlink incident.
The White House said in a statement: "The President and his team remain committed to continuing to play a constructive role in ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He remains optimistic that we can ultimately reach a peace agreement."
Senior European and Ukrainian officials said Ukraine's difficulties with the satellite terminal came after the United States warned that Trump could cut off intelligence support to Kyiv or stop selling military equipment to it.
However, U.S. officials deny making such threats.
Ukrainian officials and their European allies are now furious with Trump, saying he is doing all the wrong things in advancing peace talks, senior European officials say.
They believe the only way to end the conflict is to increase pressure on Russia, not Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin will simply use any economic support from the United States to replenish Moscow's funding and prolong the war.
Zelensky said in an interview on Wednesday that he felt betrayed by Trump's offer to buy diesel from Putin.
Zelensky said: "It is regrettable that we are losing a strong partner. We cannot be weak, otherwise we will not survive."
Trump administration officials say Trump remains committed to ending the war and is the only person who can negotiate with both Putin and Zelensky to broker a workable peace deal.
These officials said Trump is trying to first de-escalate the war between Russia and Ukraine and then propose a new proposal to Moscow: economic and political benefits if Russia adheres to a more durable cease-fire agreement.
Trump administration officials also said that Trump’s offer to buy Russian diesel was both to lower U.S. gasoline prices and to provide economic incentives to Putin to return to the negotiating table.
They pointed out that Trump is still open to the establishment of economic relations between the United States and Russia after the end of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Some Republican lawmakers welcomed Trump's deal with Russia, saying it would give U.S. consumers squeezed by high energy prices a breather. But other Republican lawmakers denounced the deal, saying it was a wrong decision to give free benefits to a Russian leader who has no intention of seeking peace.
In addition to Fitzpatrick, other Republicans who have spoken out against the deal include some staunch Trump allies who also face the test of the midterm elections. These include Iowa Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson (Ashley Hinson), and Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers (Mike Rogers).
In addition, some Republican members of Congress who have long criticized Trump's policies and are retiring from Congress have also publicly opposed the diesel deal, including Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska.
Officials say the latest round of tensions between Trump and Zelensky began with a meeting in New York.
When Zelensky went to the United States to attend the United Nations summit in mid-September, he was confident that many things were moving in a direction beneficial to Ukraine.
Ukraine has contained Russia's advances on the battlefield, and Zelensky has had several positive meetings with Trump before, including a friendly meeting during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in July.
But people familiar with the matter said that during the meeting in New York, Trump asked Zelensky why Ukraine attacked Russian oil refineries.
Striking this infrastructure is an important part of Ukraine's strategy to reduce Russia's funding for the war by attacking Moscow's most vulnerable point - its source of fiscal revenue.
Energy analysts generally believe that the rise in energy prices, especially the rise in diesel prices, is mainly caused by the Iran conflict.
However, analysts estimate that Ukraine's successful drone attacks have caused 40% to 50% of Russia's oil refining facility network to stop functioning.
The United States has asked Ukraine to stop attacking Russian energy facilities about six times since Trump’s discussions with Zelensky, people familiar with the matter said.
Ukrainian officials said they were willing to accept any energy ceasefire agreement with Russia, but Russia refused to accept it, so Ukraine did not stop its attacks.
Over the next month, as Ukraine continued to launch attacks, Trump grew increasingly unhappy with Zelensky.
Trump is annoyed that Ukraine is using U.S. resources to crack down on Russian energy exports because he believes such an approach could harm U.S. consumers, people familiar with the matter said.
In early October, senior Ukrainian and European officials flew to Miami to meet with two of Trump's top aides in an attempt to restart peace talks.
The negotiations held on October 9 were chaired by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, aiming to draft a new plan to end the war acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine.
During the meeting, Kushner and Witkov said President Trump was considering a diesel deal with Russia.
Ukrainian and European officials were alarmed.
During the six-hour meeting, Kushner and Witkov urged Ukrainian and European officials to come up with a new set of proposals to submit to Russia in an effort to end the war, people familiar with the matter said.
On the same day, Trump had a 90-minute phone conversation with Putin and announced the diesel deal shortly after hanging up.
Congressmen and U.S. officials said that after the news was announced, many Republican lawmakers called the White House angrily.
These lawmakers believe that the deal benefits Russia without making any concessions and violates a U.S. law passed in 2022. The law prohibits the United States from importing Russian energy without first consulting with Congress.
On Sunday, Trump announced on social media that Russia and Ukraine had reached an energy ceasefire agreement that took effect immediately.
However, shortly after Trump’s announcement, Russia launched an attack on a power plant in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
When asked about violating the ceasefire agreement, Trump said:
"They agreed. You know why? Because I said you agreed. That's it. They agreed because I said they agreed, and this has to be resolved."
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