A public disagreement over aid to Ukraine has erupted between the tech mogul and Poland’s Foreign Minister.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, told Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to “be quiet” during an online dispute about the funding and importance of the Starlink satellite internet, which is heavily relied upon by the Ukrainian military.
Since 2022, Musk has donated over 40,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine. Ukrainian forces utilize the service for battlefield tasks, including guiding drone and artillery strikes.
On Sunday, Musk, who advises former US President Donald Trump, reiterated his call for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, describing Starlink as “the backbone of the Ukrainian army.”
“Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off. What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose,” he posted on X.
Sikorski responded to Musk’s post, stating that “Starlinks for Ukraine are financed by the Polish Digitization Ministry at a cost of roughly $50 million annually.”
“Beyond the ethics of threatening a victim of aggression, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider, we will be compelled to seek alternative suppliers,” the minister added.
“Be quiet, small man,” Musk retorted. “You cover only a small portion of the cost. And Starlink is irreplaceable,” he wrote.
US Senator Marco Rubio claimed that Sikorski was “just making things up.”
“No one has threatened to disconnect Ukraine from Starlink,” Rubio emphasized. “And say thank you, because without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost this war a long time ago, and Russians would now be at Poland’s border.”
Last week, Trump halted weapons shipments to Ukraine and limited intelligence sharing, arguing that Kiev should be more open to his mediation efforts for a peace agreement.
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