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Starlink shutdown threat: US warns Ukraine over minerals deal
Oneindia - English / VideoElephant
The fallout over US president Donald Trump’s approach to the war in Ukraine started by Russia and Vladimir Putin has intensified yet again, as Reuters reports US negotiators have warned they may cut Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink system if they don’t hand over critical minerals.
The Republican has already sparked international condemnation after branding Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” and claiming it was Ukraine which triggered the conflict back in February 2022.
Now, he’s being accused of 'extortion' after the US has reportedly brought up Starlink in negotiations over rare earth minerals, which Trump wants “the equivalent of like $500 billion worth” in the event of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
And of course, Starlink – which has proved critical in providing internet access in the war-torn country – is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, now a close associate of Trump in his new administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
A source told Reuters: “Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star.
“Losing Starlink … would be a massive blow.”
Earlier this week Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, claimed Zelensky “is going to sign that deal” on rare minerals, but Sky News said on Saturday that it had heard from a Ukrainian source who said such an agreement “is not yet ready to be signed”.
“There are a number of problematic issues, and in the current form of the draft, the president is not ready to accept it.
“Today, the drafts do not reflect a partnership in the agreement and only unilateral commitments by Ukraine.”
News outlet MeidasTouch slammed the threat of pulling Starlink as “staggering levels of corruption”:
Another suggested an “appropriate response” from the European Union would be to retaliate by ‘banning the sale of Teslas’:
Ex-Australian politician Tony Windsor expressed a similar stance, saying that if Reuters report is true then “Australia should review its relations with the US” as “these people are very shallow transactional operators who could jeopardise security at a whim”:
Musk doesn’t seem all that bothered by threats of a Tesla boycott though, as on Saturday he shared a TikTok video from a creator attacking this argument.
In the upload by @teslaxplored, a man is filmed saying: “What’s he gonna go down to, worth 250 billion?
“Oh my god, his life is ruined. How can he live on 250 billion instead of 400 billion?”
Why not read…
- Donald Trump called himself ‘the king’ and now he’s facing backlash
- Mike Pence ‘owns’ Donald Trump with surprise Ukraine intervention – and everyone’s saying the same thing
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