Musk and Rubio spar with Polish minister over Starlink in Ukraine

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and tech billionaire Elon Musk person had a contentious speech with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, successful a bid of X posts connected Sunday implicit the usage of Musk's Starlink outer strategy successful Ukraine.

In a effect to a station from Musk mentioning turning disconnected the system, Sikorski implied that immoderate threats to unopen down Starlink would effect successful a hunt for different suppliers.

Rubio rapidly dismissed the claims that Musk would unopen down the strategy and urged Sikorski to beryllium grateful.

The trio went backmost and distant successful an speech of posts connected X that ended with Musk calling Sikorski "small man".

Starlink's strategy is portion of SpaceX's ngo to supply high-speed net to distant and underserved areas - similar warfare zones - astir the world.

Sunday's speech started erstwhile Musk posted that Starlink was the "backbone of the Ukrainian army".

"Their full beforehand enactment would illness if I turned it off," helium wrote.

Sikorski past responded to Musk's post, saying that Poland was paying for the service.

"Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry astatine the outgo of astir $50 cardinal per year," Sikorski wrote. "The morals of threatening the unfortunate of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to beryllium an unreliable supplier we volition beryllium forced to look for different suppliers."

Sikorski's station caused Rubio to chime in, penning that the Polish overseas curate was "just making things up".

"No-one has made immoderate threats astir cutting Ukraine disconnected from Starlink," Rubio wrote.

"And accidental convey you due to the fact that without Starlink Ukraine would person mislaid this warfare agelong agone and Russians would beryllium connected the borderline with Poland close now," helium added.

Musk aboriginal responded to Sikorski's station calling him a "small man".

"Be quiet, tiny man. You wage a tiny fraction of the cost. And determination is nary substitute for Starlink," Musk wrote.

The Starlink terminals are cardinal to Ukraine's service operations and person been utilized since the commencement of the Russian penetration successful February 2022.

There are tens of thousands of terminals successful the country, including up to 500 purchased by the US Department of Defence successful June 2023.