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United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied Tuesday that Washington had changed its policy toward Ukraine, saying the Pentagon had not ordered restrictions on satellite communications services and was working to ensure U.S. forces maintained adequate supplies of Patriot missile interceptors.
“There’s a lot of things that have been said in the press that are not true about the Department of War,” Hegseth told reporters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, when asked about reports that the Pentagon was delaying transfers of Patriot interceptors from allied countries to Ukraine.
“We haven’t changed our posture in any way toward the Ukrainians, but certainly with things like interceptors, we want to make sure our guys have the most possible as well,” he said.
Hegseth added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was aware of the situation.
Asked whether his assertion that U.S. policy toward Ukraine remained unchanged also applied to coverage provided by the Starshield satellite network, Hegseth said Washington had not withdrawn any support.
“We haven’t pulled anything back. There are terms of service that ultimately need to be complied with, and that’s where Starlink has the option to make those decisions,” he said.
“But nothing’s changed from our view. We haven’t made any directives or anything like that,” he added.
His remarks came amid reports raising questions about the Trump administration's handling of military assistance to Kyiv and the availability of satellite communications services used by Ukrainian forces.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also denied Wednesday that Washington had played any role in a reported slowdown of Starlink satellite internet services Ukraine uses in its war with Russia.
“Starlink is a private company. They have a contract. They have contractual terms on how that technology can be used. The important point is we cannot direct a private company as to the decisions they make or not make,” Rubio told reporters in Mumbai, India.
Rubio was speaking during a three-day visit to the South Asian country.
“What I can tell you with certainty is the president of the United States, nor anyone in our system, ever requested that any changes to that system be made, and that's what we said repeatedly,” Rubio said.
The denials followed a Tuesday report by The Wall Street Journal alleging that SpaceX founder Elon Musk had ordered a slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink used by Ukrainian forces.
Citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter, the newspaper reported that Musk had capped the speed of Starlink satellite internet services used by Ukraine, rendering some of its military drones virtually useless.
Hours after reports of the slowdown emerged, Musk wrote on X that "any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS," using the acronym for president of the United States.
Trump, however, told reporters Monday that he did not know who was responsible for the reported slowdown.
"But I would like to find out," he added.
Hegseth, meanwhile, maintained Tuesday that the Pentagon had not withdrawn support, emphasizing that Starlink could make decisions under its terms of service.
Asked whether U.S. national security officials should have received advance notice of potential restrictions affecting critical Ukrainian military infrastructure, Rubio declined to discuss what Washington might have known.
“I'm not going to comment on what we knew that they might or might not do,” he said.
“Suffice it to say that the reporting out there was that somehow the United States government was denying them something they needed in order to defend their country. That's not true. That's not accurate.”
“And for leaders in Ukraine to continue to represent that is also not accurate,” he added.
Rubio maintained that Washington had no advance knowledge of the reported restrictions and that Trump was not involved in decisions made by Starlink, Starshield or Musk.
He also warned that the Trump administration was “no longer going to be defensive about this topic.”
“Because… if it were not for the assistance of the United States, including under the Trump administration, there would be no Ukraine right now. Ukraine as a sovereign state would not exist.”
Rubio further clarified that the U.S. military has a separate contract with SpaceX for Starshield, distinguishing it from Starlink's commercial services.
"That's a different matter because that's something we are purchasing and using for our use," he said.
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