Ukraine’s access to Starlink a decision for Elon Musk, Rubio says

US secretary of state says White House not to blame for reported speed limits on internet services in Ukraine.United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio says decisions about Ukraine’s access to Starlink are in the hands of its parent company, SpaceX, and CEO Elon Musk, not the White House, in response to claims it was involved in restricting Kyiv’s access to satellite internet services.Rubio’s comments on Wednesday may increase scrutiny of US decision-making to potentially throttle the high-tech system, which allows Kyiv to intercept incoming projectiles and target Russian launchers.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump defends Russian sanctions relief, lashes out at Zelenskyylist 2 of 3Rubio says there was no US pause in intelligence sharing with Ukrainelist 3 of 3US-Ukraine relations sour as Trump, Zelenskyy clash over talks, armsend of listThe Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk had ordered a slowdown of Starshield, a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukraine relies on for defence against Russian missile attacks.The Journal quoted one person as saying Musk, US President Donald Trump and White House officials discussed the matter beforehand and two people as saying Musk and the president discussed the matter in the days after the slowdown.The Reuters news agency has quoted two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter as saying the decision ultimately came from the White House.This version was also confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but denied by the Trump administration.‘Missions disrupted’Zelenskyy adviser Serhii Beskrestnov wrote on the Telegram messaging app on October 14 that SpaceX had imposed a limit of 160 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour) on Starshield services. That affected guidance systems for drones that Ukraine uses to intercept Russian drones flying at far greater speeds.