Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski reminded Elon Musk that Poland has ordered and paid for Ukraine’s Starlink internet services and that if it was to be turned off, his country would seek an alternative service.
Sikorski’s remarks on March 9 came after Musk speculated about curtailing Ukrainian access to the Starlink internet connection.
Starlink provides crucial internet connectivity to Ukraine and its military but US negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to the country’s rare-earth metals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to the service.
Musk, who heads up the Department of Government Efficiency in the administration of US President Donald Trump, ramped up the pressure when he posted on his X social media platform that Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned Starlink off”.
He added that he was “sickened by years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose”, referinng to the war with Russia.
The US Government has already revoked some access to satellite imagery for Ukraine and paused intelligence sharing, piling pressure on Kyiv as Trump sought a swift end to the conflict.
Sikorski expressed surprise at Musk’s comments, reminding him that “Starlink for Ukraine was paid for by the Polish Digitisation Ministry at the cost of about $50 million [€46.2 million] per year”, Sikorski wrote on X, adding that Poland would look for alternative suppliers if needed.
“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.” Starlink’s parent company did not reply to a separate emailed request for comment.
The alternative supplier Sikorski may have been alluding to was the Franco-British satellite operator Eutelsat.
It its shares soar by 380 per cent during the week ending March 7 due speculation the company could replace Starlink in providing internet access to Ukraine.
Musk’s response to Sikorski on X was brisk and terse. “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
A more diplomatic response to Sikorski’ remarks came from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He said there should be more gratitude shown for the provision of Starlink and denied that any actual threat had been levelled at Ukraine over the service.
“No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” wrote Rubio on X. “And say ‘thank you’ because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russia would be on the border with Poland right now.”
Sikorski’s comments on replacing Starlink were criticised by the Polish opposition Conservatives (PiS).
PiS MEP Patryk Jaki told Polish public radio Trójka on March 10: “Sikorski is acting like Zelensky, putting his media presence above the interests of Poland. It just shows that the present [Polish] Tusk government represents a threat to Poland’s alliance with the US.”
Around 8,000 US troops are currently stationed in Poland and the country has served as a hub for military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine over the three years of the war.
During his visit to Poland in February, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth praised Poland and called it a “model ally” because of its high military spending, now above 4 per cent of GDP.
Despite that, he would not give a cast-iron guarantee that the presence of US troops in Poland would be permanent.
