Secretary of State Marco Rubio and tech billionaire Elon Musk sharply responded to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on March 9, dismissing Sikorski’s concerns about Starlink being cut off in the future, and urging him to be thankful for the assistance thus far.
Earlier on March 9, Sikorski stated that Poland will look for alternative suppliers if SpaceX turns out to be an unreliable provider of Starlink satellite internet for Ukraine.
Rubio responded and claimed that Sikorski was "just making things up.”
“No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” Rubio said. “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."
Musk responded as well, claiming that Poland only pays a “small fraction” of the cost for Ukraine’s Starlink access, even though Warsaw provides half of the total of Ukraine’s 42,000 terminals, at about $50 million per year, according to Sikorski.
“Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost,” Musk said. “And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Previously on March 9, Musk claimed that the entire front line in Ukraine would collapse if he shut off Starlink services.
Both Musk and Rubio have made remarks against Ukrainian officials and Kyiv’s position in recent weeks.
On March 5, Rubio said that Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine is a "proxy war" between Moscow and Washington.
He then blamed President Volodymyr Zelensky for "undermining" Trump's plan in the peace negotiations thus far, following the heated exchange that took place at the White House in late February.
Musk has also made similar statements, and he has amplified Russian disinformation, criticizing Zelensky’s position frequently, and calling for “immediate peace,” while refraining from criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin for starting the full-scale invasion.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
