Zelenskyy betrayed by Trump over Starlink curbs that hit Ukraine's military
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he feels personally betrayed by Donald Trump after Starlink access for Ukraine's military was restricted, cutting most frontline strike drones - a Zelenskyy betrayed Trump Starlink rift laid bare in remarks made in London on Wednesday ahead of talks with prime minister Andy Burnham.
Zelenskyy betrayed by Trump over Starlink curbs that hit Ukraine's military
Zelenskyy said he felt betrayed by the US president after Ukraine's military Starlink access was squeezed, in a TV interview recorded during a visit to London ahead of a meeting with prime minister Andy Burnham in Downing Street.
Zelenskyy: 'losing a strong partner'
The Ukrainian president accused Trump of picking the other side after more than four years of war. "It's a pity that we are losing, we are losing a strong partner," he said in the interview with Piers Morgan.
Asked directly whether he felt betrayed, Zelenskyy replied that he did, while adding: "Really, yes … but it's a little bit more complicated than just my emotions or my feelings."
He told the programme that the restriction came without warning. "Because it was 1am at night, Starlink was blocked by SpaceX and the United States," Zelenskyy said, predicting that the loss of connectivity would cost human lives.
Trump has denied cutting intelligence sharing on Ukraine, but Zelenskyy told NPR that US military advisers had received threats from the US that intelligence sharing could be limited in future.
What the Starlink restriction did
Ukraine's military reported overnight that Starlink was no longer working at speeds greater than 100mph, with no explanation given. The network is produced by Elon Musk's SpaceX but managed by the US government.
The speed limit rendered most of the drones used by Ukraine to strike behind the frontlines inoperable, and affected a key air defence system used against Russian jet-powered attack drones.
Musk said the decision was not his. Starshield systems, a related network linked to the Ukrainian military, are owned and controlled by the US government, and he said any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.
Serhiy Beskrestnov, a military technology adviser to Zelenskyy, said terminals using the military version lost connectivity once they moved at more than 100mph, in what he described as an apparently targeted outage. "Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions and this led to the failure of a number of missions," he said.
In his view the timing was no accident:
With their actions, our partners are depriving us of one of the few chances we have to defend ourselves
Beskrestnov said the move could not be a coincidence and was connected to the political situation. He noted that Shahed interception rates had already dropped from more than 90% to about 60% after Russia upgraded its drones to jet engines in the early summer.
The restriction affects medium-range mid-strike drones hitting targets in occupied territories, but has no impact on deep strikes inside Russia, as Kyiv is banned from using Starlink to hit targets inside of Russia.
Downing Street talks and British support
The betrayal remarks formed the immediate backdrop to Zelenskyy's visit to London. Burnham had told MPs before the meeting that Zelenskyy "would not leave empty-handed", and tasked officials with drawing up sanctions and faster military aid options.
Greeting the Ukrainian president in Downing Street on Wednesday, Burnham said Britain's support would remain constant. "We are behind you and that will not change," he said.
Among the specific pledges:
- An acceleration in the supply of British lightweight multi-role missiles, which are used against Russian drone strikes, and a search for "all possible avenues" of further support.
- £17m in funding towards repairs to the protective roof over the destroyed Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which was damaged by a Russian drone strike last year.
Earlier on Wednesday, Zelenskyy had met King Charles at Buckingham Palace before travelling to Downing Street. The meeting with Burnham lasted just over an hour, began with a hug on Downing Street and photographs flanked by Irish Guards in full ceremonial uniform.
Burnham said he was ready to discuss Trump's proposed ceasefire on attacks on energy infrastructure, but acknowledged that Moscow had not abided by it, citing further attacks on critical national infrastructure in Ukraine. At PMQs, he said he wanted to be careful about criticism of Trump and was "laying the ground" for reconciliation.
Zelenskyy said he had hoped to raise access to Starlink and intelligence sharing during his talks with the British prime minister.
Missile strikes and the energy truce
The restriction took effect as Russia attacked Ukraine for a second night without advance warning from the US, which had long provided strike intelligence on incoming ballistic missiles.
Late on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said, Russia fired 39 ballistic missiles and 120 attack drones against Kyiv and Kharkiv, hitting five big power plants and substations. At least 600,000 people were left without power, and Zelenskyy warned the outages could spread.
The attacks came against the backdrop of a ceasefire on energy infrastructure that Trump announced last week but which has not been confirmed. Zelenskyy said he had not heard of the deal until Trump announced it in a Truth Social post.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was abiding by the truce, arguing that the energy truce proposed by Trump "was not specified in detail", so it could not be claimed that Russia was failing to observe it.
