Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv expects full Starlink functionality to be restored within 48 hours, speaking at a press conference in Oslo after meeting US envoy Steve Witkoff, according to the Ukrainian news outlet Censor.NET in a report published on 20 October. He also said Ukraine is now receiving intelligence from the United States again, including through the early warning system for Russian ballistic missile attacks.
Starlink is the satellite internet network operated by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s US rocket company, and in Ukraine its terminals are used for military communications: Zelenskyy told NBC that the limiting of terminal speeds hampered front-line drone operations and some air defence missions, The Guardian reported. Washington denies any involvement in that limiting.
Key facts
- Zelenskyy said in Oslo that Ukraine expects results on full Starlink functionality within 48 hours, Censor.NET reported.
- He spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by phone early in the morning while travelling by train to Oslo, according to Censor.NET.
- Zelenskyy said US intelligence sharing, including ballistic missile early warning, is working again, Censor.NET reported.
- He told NBC that the speed limit was “a message from [the] American government” and that SpaceX executed it technically, per The Guardian.
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said no one in the Trump administration did that, according to The Guardian.
Why it matters
This report notes two things about the Oslo remarks. The 48-hour figure is the first specific restoration deadline Zelenskyy has publicly attached to the dispute, and neither SpaceX nor the US State Department is quoted in either the Censor.NET or Guardian report confirming it.
The second is the positioning: on Censor.NET’s account, a commercial satellite internet service was discussed in the same phone call as intelligence sharing and Patriot interceptors, which is this report’s reading of why the row has escalated to leader level rather than being settled as a service matter.
What Zelenskyy said in Oslo
Censor.NET quoted Zelenskyy as saying Ukraine is grateful that intelligence is now being shared effectively, specifically naming the early warning system that tells civilians when ballistic missiles are approaching. “The system is working, and that is great,” he said, according to the outlet.
On Starlink, Zelenskyy said the subject came up in his call with Rubio along with interceptors and intelligence, and that the discussion was specific and positive, Censor.NET reported.
The disagreement over who capped the service
The accounts diverge on responsibility. In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, reported by The Guardian on 18 October, Zelenskyy maintained that the United States had intentionally throttled Starlink access so that President Donald Trump could send a “message” in his feud with the Ukrainian leader, and said SpaceX carried out the limitation.
Bessent said in a separate NBC interview that Trump and Rubio had categorically stated that no one in the Trump administration did it, The Guardian reported. He called the accusation reckless and said Zelenskyy should be careful about making such statements. Censor.NET also carried a separate report in which Rubio rejected claims that Ukrainians were dying because of a lack of US intelligence; the outlet summarised his response as “This is simply not true.”
Speeds, availability and cost: what the reports leave out
How much speed was cut, and when
Neither Censor.NET nor The Guardian gives a figure for how far terminal speeds were reduced, a precise date on which the limiting began, or the number of terminals affected. The clearest public marker of how long it ran is Zelenskyy himself, who on 17 October said Starlink speeds were still not fully restored.
Who pays, and what users pay
The terminals at issue are not ordinary retail subscriptions. Germany has said publicly that it funds Ukraine’s Starlink service, which raised the question of who pays for Ukraine’s terminals and who can cap them. Front-line availability therefore turns on those government funding and access arrangements rather than on advertised consumer prices, and neither report this week addresses what Starlink costs in Ukraine or whether civilian subscribers saw any change.
Intelligence restored, with a gap acknowledged
Both reports agree the intelligence flow has resumed. The Guardian reported Zelenskyy as saying the intelligence on impending Russian ballistic missile strikes had been blocked for a period and was then “deblocked” by the American side, and that only the United States has that unique intelligence capability.
Zelenskyy also said on 18 October that he had spoken with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the two Trump envoys charged with ending the war, describing Ukraine’s contact with the administration as virtually nonstop, according to The Guardian.
Background: the wider standoff
The dispute is playing out against an intensifying exchange of strikes. The Guardian reported that Ukraine used more than 1,000 drones against Russian oil depots, logistics facilities and datacentres in one of its largest aerial bombardments, with Russia’s defence ministry saying it downed 1,015 drones overnight, fires reported at St Petersburg’s oil terminal and about 20,000 people left without electricity in the Leningrad region. Trump, meanwhile, wrote on Truth Social that he was making “great progress” towards a peace but claimed Zelenskyy does not want the war to end, the paper reported, noting too that he has sought a detente with Moscow, including a diesel import deal and the waiving of congressional sanctions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long did Ukraine go without US early warning of ballistic missile strikes?
Zelenskyy told NBC’s Meet the Press that Ukraine did not receive the data during ballistic attacks over three days, according to The Guardian. He said the feed was blocked for that period before being unblocked by the American side.
Did Russia and Ukraine stop striking each other while these talks were taking place?
No. The Guardian reported that two people were killed and at least 17 injured as both sides continued to trade strikes on each other’s power infrastructure, after the collapse of Trump’s short-lived, unilaterally declared “energy ceasefire”.
Did Ukrainian drones stray into another country’s airspace during the exchange?
The Guardian reported that Lithuania told residents in central and northern parts of the country to seek shelter after an unidentified flying object entered its airspace. Ukraine’s foreign ministry later said it regretted the possible diversion of its drones, which it said may have been caused by Russian electronic warfare.
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