Billionaire Elon Musk had a social media 'war of words' with the Polish Foreign Minister about Starlink's operations in Ukraine.
Billionaire Elon Musk made a strong statement on social network X on March 9, affirming that the Starlink satellite system “is the backbone of the Ukrainian military.” Mr. Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX owns Starlink and has provided the satellite network system to Ukraine during more than 3 years of war.
“The entire Ukrainian frontline would have collapsed if I had turned them (Starlink) off,” Musk said.
Billionaire Elon Musk at Capitol Hill, USA on March 5
It has recently emerged that billionaire Elon Musk is considering cutting off the Starlink network in Ukraine as a bargaining chip to get Ukraine to negotiate a mineral deal on terms favorable to the United States. Musk has denied this.
According to Reuters, Poland is currently the country that supports most of the costs for Starlink to operate in Ukraine. Responding to Mr. Musk's post on X, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that the government of this country spends about $50 million a year to pay for Starlink in Ukraine.
Can Europe replace billionaire Musk's Starlink in Ukraine?
“If SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider, we will be forced to find another partner,” Sikorski wrote on X, citing Musk’s post. Europe is reportedly looking for alternatives to Starlink if Musk stops operating the satellite network in Ukraine.
The back-and-forth between Mr Musk and Mr Sikorski continued, with the SpaceX boss asserting: “No matter how much I disagree with Ukraine policy, Starlink will never stop service. We would never do that or use it as a bargaining chip.”
Mr. Musk also responded to Foreign Minister Sikorski’s information that Poland paid for Starlink to operate in Ukraine: “Stop it. You only pay a small part of the cost. There is no substitute for Starlink.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke out about his Polish counterpart’s post. “No one has made any threats to cut off Starlink in Ukraine. Be thankful that without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost the war long ago and the Russians would be right on the Polish border right now,” he said.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ong-musk-khau-chien-voi-ngoai-truong-ba-lan-tren-mang-xa-hoi-vi-starlink-o-ukraine-185250310104020744.htm
Comment (0)