Trump says Musk restored Ukraine's Starlink service

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has restored Ukraine's Starlink access, according to US President Donald Trump.

However, the US president declined to comment when asked whether he had spoken to the billionaire about the matter.

US media had reported earlier that Mr Trump had called Mr Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of the military-grade Starshield network.

"I don't want to comment on it, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn't make any difference, I guess. The bottom line ... he put it ‌back", Mr Trump told reporters.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Elon Musk had capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, making some of Kyiv's drones useless.

Mr Musk had previously said that "any limits on speed or usage" of Starshield systems were "decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS", referring to Mr Trump.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield, and Mr Trump said last week he did not do so either.

Ukraine uses the network for battlefield communications and drone operations.

Restricting the satellite service hampered the country's attack and air defence drone operations against Russia.

The Starlink system was working normally yesterday, according to some US and Ukrainian officials.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that speed on Starlink ⁠systems had not been restored for Ukraine, adding that he hoped for talks with US Secretary ‌of State Marco Rubio in the coming days.

Mr Zelensky's relations with Washington have become strained recently after the US president announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow.

Mr Trump has ⁠also told Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries and urged Ukrainians to replace Mr Zelensky.

Russia attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles and Ukraine sent hundreds of drones towards Moscow yesterday as the pair kept up a barrage of attacks despite the latest US push to end the conflict.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.