Rubio stated that Ukraine does not yet have access to Starshield

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Ukraine currently does not have access to the Starshield satellite system used by the U.S. military. According to him, Kyiv has requested access to the system, specifically for strikes deep inside Russia, but this issue is still under discussion. Rubio also denied that Washington had ordered a speed limit on Starlink in Ukraine.

Marco Rubio stated that the U.S. is not involved in limiting the speed of Starlink satellite communications in Ukraine. At the same time, he confirmed that Ukraine cannot yet use the Starshield system, which is used by the U.S. military.

Rubio explained that Starlink and Starshield are different products. Starlink is a commercial satellite communication system, while Starshield was developed for defense and military purposes. “I mean, this is what the U.S. military uses. It is currently unavailable to Ukraine, and this issue is under discussion. They are now discussing exactly how they would like to use it,” Rubio said.

Ukraine Requests Access to Starshield

According to the Secretary of State, Ukraine has already submitted a request to use Starshield. Specifically, Kyiv would like to use the system to launch strikes deep into Russian territory. However, Ukraine does not currently have such access. “Starshield is a completely different product. Starshield is a contract with the U.S. military. It has nothing to do with Ukraine. I know that Ukraine wants access to Starshield. They have requested access to it in order to launch strikes deep into Russian territory. At this time, they do not have access to it,” Rubio stated.

Thus, the question of Ukraine’s use of Starshield remains open. Rubio did not specify when Kyiv might gain access to the system or whether the U.S. government and the developer would approve such use.

U.S. Denies Starlink Speed Limits

Separately, Rubio commented on reports of Starlink speed restrictions in Ukraine. He stated that U.S. authorities did not issue any such instructions and were not involved in this decision. “We had nothing to do with this. No one ordered a reduction in Starlink’s speed. It just happened somehow. But, as far as I understand, it has been restored, and everything is back to normal. They were using Starlink for their drones,” the secretary of state said.

At the same time, Rubio did not explain why the connection speed had decreased or who exactly had made that decision. When asked about the restoration of Starshield, he reiterated that it is a separate system that is currently unavailable to Ukraine. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Starlink’s speed in Ukraine had been limited to 161 km/h. According to him, this makes it impossible to use the system on interceptor drones deployed to combat “Shahed” rockets.

Denys Senik, Ukraine’s Chargé d’Affaires in the U.S., also reported that Kyiv is awaiting an official response from the Pentagon and SpaceX regarding the full restoration of Starshield’s operations. According to him, the system’s performance remains unstable. In addition, The Telegraph reported that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had approached U.S. President Donald Trump with a proposal to limit Starlink’s speed in Ukraine. However, Rubio denied that the U.S. government had issued an order imposing such a restriction.

Thus, two separate issues remain at this time: the circumstances surrounding the Starlink speed limit and the possibility of granting Ukraine access to the Starshield military system. Washington denies any involvement in the first issue and confirms that the second issue is still under discussion. The U.S. Secretary of State told reporters this at Andrews Air Force Base before traveling to India and Uzbekistan.