Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated on the X platform that it is Poland that pays for Starlinks for Ukraine, to which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk replied: “Be quiet, small man.”
“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” wrote Sikorski.
“Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink,” replied.
Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year.
The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers. https://t.co/WaJWCklgPE
— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) March 9, 2025Musk also claimed he never threatened to cut Ukraine off from his satellite network, even if he disagreed with the war continuing.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio entered the spat by posting a rebuke to Sikorski’s post, saying he was “making things up.”
“No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” he posted, adding, “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 says that Starlink will “never” shut off its terminals in Ukraine. Russian forces have so far been unable to jam the satellite communications network, making it vital for Ukraine’s operations.
“To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals,” Musk wrote on X.
“We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip,” he added.
