Former US Special Representative. for negotiations in Ukraine Kurt Volker joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine, and more.
CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk says his company was successful on Sunday in stopping Russia from making “unauthorized” use of Starlink internet systems in Ukraine.
Starlink units supported Ukrainian forces during the invasion, but Russian forces also captured many of the units as a result. Musk’s company had been working to prevent Russian forces from using the captured devices, and Ukrainian officials now say they are working to prevent Russian access in the long term.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Kiev is developing a system that will allow only authorized Starlink terminals to operate on Ukrainian territory.
“Ukraine has already taken the first steps together with Starlink, which have quickly produced results against Russian drones” he wrote on X.
Elon Musk says SpaceX has managed to lock Russia out of Starlink. (Getty Images)
“The next step is to implement a system that allows only authorized terminals to operate at the terminal territory of Ukraine”, he added.
He confirmed reports that Ukraine had witnessed Russian drones operating over Ukrainian cities via Starlink connectivity. Officials immediately contacted SpaceX for solutions, and Fedorov thanked Musk in a separate statement.
“It appears the steps we’ve taken to stop Russia’s unauthorized use of Starlink have worked. Please let us know if more needs to be done,” Musk replied to X.
Ukrainian forces used Starlink connectivity during the Russian invasion. (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Starlink battle comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that a new round of peace talks will take place this week. Representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the US will be present.
“Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky doubts Russia’s sincerity in peace talks. (Timothy A. Clara/AFP via Getty Images)
Zelenskyy said this on Thursday main obstacles to a peace agreement remain unresolved, including the future of occupied Ukrainian territory and Moscow’s claims for land it has not conquered.
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“I don’t believe Russia wants to end the war. There is a lot of evidence to the contrary,” Zelensky said on Thursday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
