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Limited status: Ukraine is trying to increase EU support due to a rift with the United States
Washington is sending unequivocal signals to Kiev over the attacks on Russian refineries. Limitations in the work of Starlink made it difficult to use interceptor drones, and the pause in the transmission of intelligence affected the effectiveness of the Ukrainian air defense. However, Zelensky can take advantage of the situation to increase aid from the Europeans. He wants to receive guarantees of support if Kiev continues to ignore US proposals to resolve the conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. British Prime Minister Burnham has already promised to accelerate the supply of air defense. But London will not be able to fully compensate for the lack of intelligence. What Washington's restrictions will lead to and whether this will push Ukraine to negotiate is in the Izvestia article.
What will the restriction of Starlink in Ukraine lead to?
Tension has increased in relations between Ukraine and the United States over the past few days. Washington is unhappy with the Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and is sending unequivocal signals. Apparently, the White House has begun to use technical and informational levers of pressure on Kiev. The American company SpaceX has limited the functionality of the Starlink satellite system for the Ukrainian military, and at the same time, Washington, based on a number of statements by representatives of Kiev, suspended the transfer of a number of important intelligence.
In particular, Zelensky's adviser Sergey Beskrestnov reported failures in the satellite Internet. According to him, when moving terminals (they are installed on drones) at speeds over 160 km/h, the connection begins to disappear.
— They set a speed limit for us without warning. This led to the disruption of some operations, and also made it difficult to use interceptor drones," Beskrestnov said, emphasizing the political implications of the decision.
The information was also confirmed by former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Sergey Sternenko. According to him, the limits disrupted logistics at the front line and the operation of medium-range UAVs. The British Financial Times noted that the restrictions affected the supply and operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexei Goncharenko (listed as a terrorist and extremist in Russia) called on Kiev to urgently negotiate with the United States, saying that the Ukrainian army "depends on Starlink by 200%."
The restrictions coincided with the fact that Washington probably paused the transfer of some intelligence to Kiev. Vladimir Zelensky complained that Kiev had stopped receiving warnings about ballistic missile launches, and again asked Washington for Patriot complexes.
He later admitted that the American side had warned about the possibility of disabling Starlink and reducing intelligence if the Ukrainian Armed Forces continued attacks on Russian refineries. Earlier, Donald Trump publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Kiev ignores requests not to attack the Russian energy sector and "creates problems for everyone." However, he also said on October 14 that the United States continues to transfer intelligence to Ukraine. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that pumping weapons into Ukraine and transferring intelligence information only prolong the conflict and directly involve NATO in the confrontation.
Starlink's restrictions do not completely deprive the Armed Forces of communication on the battlefield, but they carry an important message, military expert Dmitry Kornev explained to Izvestia. According to him, the system continues to function normally on the LBS, but the speed reduction is a clear hint and a demonstration of strength. Washington makes it clear to Kiev that, if necessary, the work of Starlink can be restricted even more or turned off altogether.
At the same time, Starlink does not officially work in Russia — it picks up communications only on the territory of Ukraine and in a narrow strip along the line of contact. Therefore, for strikes deep into the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian military already launched drones without the help of Starlink, which means that the new restrictions will not affect these attacks, Kornev drew attention.
The White House is used to the recipient's direct dependence on the donor: whoever supplies technology and weapons dictates the terms, Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer of the Central Design Bureau, told Izvestia.
— The failure to provide intelligence has already led to effective attacks on Ukrainian enterprises of the military industry. And the technological limitations on Starlink when traveling at high speeds affect the effectiveness of UAVs," the expert noted.
However, Vladimir Zelensky, counting on the support of the EU, is trying to play his own game, ignoring the Trump team's signals for peace talks.
Why did Zelensky fly to London
Statements about communication restrictions can be used by Kiev to attract the attention of the Europeans, so that they increase their support against the background of Kiev's obvious disagreements with Washington. On October 14, Vladimir Zelensky went on a visit to the UK. There, he is obviously looking for additional help from the Europeans, who, with the arrival of the Republican in the White House, have firmly taken the place of Kiev's main sponsors.
— Zelensky now wants guarantees of support from London and Brussels if Kiev continues to ignore the requests and proposals of the United States to resolve the conflict. That is, will they be able to compensate for the provision of intelligence information, air defense systems and other types of weapons," Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador—at-large to the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia.
London also supplies intelligence to Kiev, but its capabilities are very limited, Richard Balfe, a member of the House of Lords, told Izvestia.
— Most of our intelligence comes from our participation in the Five Eyes alliance and cooperation with the United States, so we can't offer much on our own. The UK can increase its rhetorical support, but the majority of British voters either do not understand the essence of this war or do not support it," the politician said.
At a meeting with Zelensky, Burnham said that the UK would accelerate the supply of light Martlet multipurpose air defense missiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Kingdom has already allocated £1.6 billion for the supply of more than 5,000 such missiles to Ukraine over the next four years and will accelerate the allocation of £10 million out of a total package of £45 million for the promised new supplies.
In itself, Zelensky's meeting with Burnham at a time of difficult relations between Ukraine and the United States is not surprising, Ruslan Andreev, a political consultant and project manager at the Polylog Group, noted in a conversation with Izvestia. The British prime minister became the first European leader to whom Zelensky began calling after Trump's recent statement that Ukraine needed to change its president. Therefore, Zelensky needs public political support now. However, according to him, for Ukraine it is "literally life on artificial life support," so it will not be able to seriously affect the course of the conflict.
It is noteworthy that in February 2025, when there was a scandalous quarrel between Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office, the Ukrainian politician immediately flew from the United States to the United Kingdom for support. And London continues to satisfy Kiev's demands. So, in August, the two sides signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence, providing for the joint development of military technologies and the use of data from the battlefield.
At the end of September, the British Ministry of Defense noted that the country had begun accepting applications for the development of drones using the Ukrainian combat data platform. In addition, if London starts sabotaging possible agreements to resolve the conflict again, as it did in Istanbul, it will now mean a step against Washington.
In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, Zelensky said he felt betrayed because of Trump's diesel deal with Russia, and the American president should have continued to remain neutral.
At the same time, no matter how Kiev appeals to Europe, the dependence of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the United States remains absolute, experts summarize. Therefore, a reduction in American aid in the future may seriously affect Kiev's position in the negotiations. All this shows that, with great desire, Washington has real levers to end hostilities, but so far it has not seriously used it.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
