‘Be quiet, small man’: Elon Musk clashes with Polish foreign minister over Starlink in Ukraine
The CEO of Starlink engaged in a heated X exchange with the Polish foreign minister, after he claimed that cutting off Ukraine’s access to the satellite internet network would result in the collapse of their “entire front line”
Tech mogul and Space X CEO Elon Musk has clashed with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski over the use of his Starlink internet service in Ukraine.
The head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency engaged in a heated exchange with Sikorski on X, on Sunday. Sikorski suggested that Poland, which pays Ukraine’s Starlink costs to help it repel Russia’s invasion, may have to seek alternative suppliers if Musk’s satellite network proves to be an “unreliable provider.” Sikorski made the comment after Musk claimed that the Ukrainian army’s “entire front line would collapse” without Starlink.
Musk made the harsh claim in response to an X user who accused him of not treating Russia as the aggressor. He wrote: “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.”
“What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose,” he added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had his own clash with Musk last week, came to the DOGE leader’s defense, accusing the Polish politician of “making things up”.
“No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” Rubio wrote. “And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”
Musk lashed out at Sikorski, posting: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Shortly after, he clarified that he was not threatening to cut off Ukraine’s access to Starlink, despite his hot-headed response on X.
“To be extremely clear,” he said, “no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals.”
“I am simply stating that, without Starlink, the Ukrainian lines would collapse, as the Russians can jam all other communications! We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.”
This incident comes just a few days after Trump announced the US would halt all military aid to Ukraine, leaving them in an extremely vulnerable position. He faced questioning during an interview with Fox News, who asked if he felt “comfortable” with the fact that he “walked away, and Ukraine may not survive.”
“Well it may not survive anyway. But you know, we have some weaknesses with Russia, it takes two,” Trump replied. “It was not gonna happen that war, and it happened so now we’re stuck with this mess.”
