The key facts

  • Bessent urged Zelensky to be more careful with statements about the US, calling them untrue
  • Rubio denied a White House directive to restrict Starlink for the Ukrainian military
  • Musk: Starshield restrictions are set not by SpaceX but by the American military

Bessent urged Zelensky to be careful

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should be more careful when speaking about the United States. He was commenting on the Ukrainian leader's statements that the US had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine and that Starlink and Starshield speeds had been throttled on the White House's orders. “Zelensky should be very careful with such statements, which do not correspond to reality,” Bessent said.

An evasive answer on alliance

Asked whether the US considers Ukraine its ally, Bessent evaded a direct answer. He noted that he is neither the US president nor the secretary of state, and emphasized that America supplies not Moscow but Kyiv. “That is exactly what an alliance relationship will be,” he added.

Conflicting statements about Starlink

Earlier, Zelensky said that SpaceX, on the White House's orders, had throttled the satellite internet, and that the US had not shared with Ukraine intelligence about Russian strikes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the White House had not issued any directive to restrict SpaceX satellite internet for the Ukrainian military. Elon Musk, in turn, stated that the speed and usage restrictions in the Starshield system, which Ukraine uses, are set not by SpaceX but by the American military.