Poland will seek alternatives if Musk cuts Ukraine's Starlink access, Sikorski says

Poland will look for alternative suppliers if SpaceX turns out to be an unreliable provider of Starlink satellite internet for Ukraine, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on March 9 in response to tech billionaire Elon Musk's remarks.

Warsaw helps Ukraine maintain its Starlink access, having provided half of the total of the country's 42,000 terminals. Starlink has played a crucial role in securing communications in wartime Ukraine.

Earlier on March 9, Musk claimed that the entire front line in Ukraine would collapse if he shut off Starlink services.

Sikorski said that Starlink services for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year.

"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," he wrote on X.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said on March 5 that cutting Starlink access for Ukraine would lead to an international crisis between Poland and the U.S. If Musk cuts off Ukraine's Starlink access, Gawkowski said, he would be effectively terminating a corporate contract with a European Union nation.

The U.S. has threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to Starlink if Kyiv doesn’t agree to a critical minerals deal, Reuters wrote in late February, citing sources. Musk denied these reports back then.

The planned signing of the agreement was disrupted after a clash between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. In early March, Washington halted U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine in an attempt to push Kyiv to peace talks with Moscow.

As concerns about Starlink's availability have grown, Ukrainian officials said Kyiv was working on alternatives to the U.S. service. French satellite operator Eutelsat Communications is in talks with the EU to possibly replace Starlink in Ukraine.

Musk, who Trump has tasked with eliminating "fraud" and "waste" from the government budget, has called for shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an organization that provides vital humanitarian aid to Ukraine. He has also amplified Russian disinformation and mocked Zelensky for calling Ukraine an independent country.

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The Kyiv IndependentNatalia Yermak