Musk satellite internet Starlink 'Ukraine blocking drones impossible' Zelensky mineral transfer

Musk satellite internet Starlink 'Ukraine blocking drones impossible' Zelensky mineral transfer

 

Musk approached mineral negotiations by threatening to 'block Ukraine' the satellite internet Starlink that he had provided to Ukraine immediately after the outbreak of the war, and Zelensky showed his submission to Trump's special envoy to Ukraine on mineral transfer.

American negotiators raised the possibility of blocking access to Musk's 'Starlink' satellite internet access network to prevent drones from being used in order to force Ukraine to submit to negotiations on key minerals.

The pro-Trump 'Axios' reported on the 20th, <Scoop: US, Ukraine Discuss 'Improved' Mineral Deal After Trump Furious at Zelensky>, <The Trump administration provided Ukraine with an 'improved' draft of a minerals agreement between the countries after President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Trump's initial proposal, Ukrainian officials, U.S. officials, and three familiar sources told Axios>.

Reuters reported on the 21st that U.S. negotiators pressuring Kiev have raised the possibility of cutting off Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s critical Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The issue of continued access to SpaceX-owned Starlink was raised in discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Zelensky rejected an initial offer from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and the issue was raised again in a meeting with U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg on the 20th, one of the sources briefed on the meeting told Reuters.

Zelensky abruptly canceled a press conference in Kiev on the 20th after meeting with Trump’s special envoy Kellogg, and in a late-night speech to Ukrainians that day, he called the meeting a “gathering to revive hope,” saying, “Economy and security must always go hand in hand,” signaling a sharp turnaround toward a deal.

Starlink has provided vital internet connectivity to war-torn Ukraine and its military, and U.S.-backed drones that are being used to attack Russia could be rendered inoperable if the service is cut off.

In a private meeting with the envoy, Ukraine said it would face an imminent shutdown if it fails to reach an agreement on key minerals, a source familiar with the talks told Reuters, requesting anonymity to discuss the matter privately.

“Ukraine operates on Starlink. They see it as their North Star,” the source told Reuters. “If they lose Starlink… it would be a huge blow.”

Zelensky has refused to sign a deal with Trump demanding that Ukraine provide $500 billion in minerals in return for aid, and on Monday Zelensky abruptly changed his position, saying “the U.S. and Ukrainian teams are working on a deal,” to which Trump quickly responded, saying he expects an agreement to be signed “very soon.”

Elon Musk rushed a fleet of his own Starlink terminals to Ukraine in February 2022 to replace communications services destroyed by Russia after the country’s invasion.

Musk was hailed as a “hero of Ukraine” by Zelensky’s government, and Musk later became critical of Kiev’s handling of the war, cutting back on access at least once before in the fall of 2022, Reuters reported.

“Starlink is essential to Ukraine’s drone operations, which are a key pillar of its military strategy, so losing Starlink would be a game changer,” Melinda Haring, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Reuters. “Ukraine now has a wide range of drone capabilities, from maritime drones and reconnaissance drones to long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, to the point where they are now one-to-one with Russia in terms of drone use and artillery.”

The New York Times reported on Monday that “several of Zelensky’s advisers have advised him to sign the new version of the agreement under discussion on the 20th, as it addresses these concerns,” a person familiar with discussions within the Ukrainian government about the U.S. proposal said.

Shortly after the meeting, Special Envoy Gelos told X that Zelensky was “a courageous leader in a country at war and his talented national security team,” describing his visit to Kiev as “extensive and positive,” and that “the staff must first agree.” It appears to have threatened a ‘blockade’.

Zelensky said in a statement on the evening of the 20th after capitulating to the agreement that his negotiating team was working with his American counterparts on “an agreement that could strengthen our relationship,” but that “we need to work out the details to ensure its effectiveness,” adding that “I expect a just outcome.”

The New York Times reported on the 21st that “President Trump and his allies have waged an all-out pressure campaign against the Ukrainian president, suggesting that the United States might abandon its war-torn country and side with Russia, which launched its invasion of its western neighbor three years ago.”

In a radio interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on the 21st, Trump portrayed Zelensky and his predecessor, President Biden, as “the real problem,” saying he was “tired” of hearing that Russia was responsible for the war, the Times reported.

“Whenever I say, ‘Oh, it’s not Russia’s fault,’ I always get slammed with fake news,” Trump told Fox News. “But what I’m saying is, Biden is wrong. "He said, 'He said the wrong thing,'" he said.

President Trump continued, "Biden just gave us money - no loans, no collateral, nothing. So we either sign the contract or we're going to have a lot of problems with them. So we're going to sign the contract to secure it."

The New York Times reported, "President Trump continued to criticize Ukraine and President Biden for not getting more demand out of Ukraine."

The New York Times, in its column titled “Here are some digital clues to what Musk is really doing,” revealed the hiring and firing process of the Office of Personnel Management, which “involves a team from Musk’s government efficiency unit taking over OPM, sleeping in their sofa beds, and running the place 24 hours a day, all while digitizing the information stored in the federal government’s top human resources office, which contains all employment records.” “With root access to the entire U.S. government, this kind of access allows a small team to comb the entire government looking for employees who hint at the wrong ideas in their positions, or who wield bureaucratic tools to resist a takeover or slow down the pace of change,” and revealed the process of screening and firing potential layoffs. The NYT continued, “This little DOGE crew became the systems administrators of the entire government, and soon after taking over OPM, they moved down to the Treasury, where all government payments are stored, giving them root access to the economy (including many companies that are direct competitors of Musk’s companies) and then recently expanding to the IRS and Social Security, both federal agencies that have extremely personal and sensitive information that effectively restricts access to all Americans.”

About Musk’s special agents, “Across the federal government, officials have seen a sudden incursion in the past two weeks by young members of the billionaire’s team called the Department of Government Efficiency. As Musk has been roving around Washington trying to cause chaos, these aides have emerged as his enforcers, storming agency headquarters with black backpacks and ambitious marching orders.

Musk’s dizzying assault on the federal bureaucracy is actually being carried out primarily by a group of male engineers, including recent college graduates and young men as young as 19, the New York Times reported on February 7, who are “young sailors” in their early 20s.

The Atlantic reported in February, “DOGE Has ‘God Mode’ Access to Government Data,” with the subtitle, “The President’s Special Committee Now Has Unprecedented Power to View and Manipulate Information in Many Federal Agencies,” and “DOGE Has Achieved ‘God Mode,’” with the subtitle, “According to a senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Musk’s Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) now has complete and unfettered access to USAID’s digital infrastructure, including complete control of systems that Americans working in conflict zones rely on, and the ability to view and manipulate financial systems that have historically disbursed hundreds of billions of dollars.”

The New York Times reported that the person who took over the Office of Personnel Management, a key intelligence agency in the federal government, was "a former Tesla engineer who was appointed director of Technology Transformation Services, a little-known agency that runs digital services for various government departments," and that "he requested 'privileged access' to 19 different IT systems without even completing a background check and was deployed into the field, with less vetting than someone delivering pizza to a mine."

The Atlantic reported that the team is expected to be deployed to IT systems at the CDC and the Federal Aviation Administration, which NASA has already done, according to sources who spoke with the agencies.

At least one DOGE ally appears to be working to open backdoors into systems used across the federal government.

Two federal employees said former Tesla engineer Thomas Shedd, who was recently named director of Technology Transformation Services, requested privileged access to 19 different IT systems managed by his team within TTS.

That level of control would allow Shedd to view and modify federal data, as well as grant and revoke access to others.

The New York Times reported on November 11 that during a phone call between Trump and Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago on November 6th last year, right after Trump was elected president, Musk was next to Trump, and during the call, Zelensky and Musk spoke on speakerphone, and Zelensky thanked Musk for providing communications support to Ukraine using SpaceX's satellite Starlink.
The New York Times reported that there were two previous calls between Zelensky and Musk, according to former Zelensky spokeswoman Iulia Mendel.
Musk also cut off service in some areas, including Crimea, as a sign of his dissatisfaction with the huge costs SpaceX incurred in supporting Ukraine with Starlink, and that the US Department of Defense announced that it would shoulder the cost of supporting Ukraine with Starlink starting in June 2023, the New York Times reported.