By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine's contract with the US government for access to its Starshield satellite network expires next year and Kyiv is urgently seeking to start talks on a new one, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said on Thursday.
Starshield's vital role in the Ukraine war came into sharp focus last month when Ukrainian battlefield commanders saw speed limitations suddenly imposed, hampering the military's ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forcing the cancellation
of some operations.
Denys Sienik, the chargé d’affaires at Ukraine's embassy in Washington, said Kyiv never received an explanation of what happened from Washington or from SpaceX, the satellite firm run by Elon Musk which provides the Starshield military service to the US government. Its Starlink commercial services are offered globally.
"The contract expires next year for Starshield. And we understand that it requires time to negotiate a new one," Sienik told the Defense Writers Group in Washington, adding, "now is actually the time."
"We want to have a clarity, basically, if we can proceed and what the terms of reference will be."
Sienik did not provide the exact month the contract would expire, saying only that it would be in the middle of next year.
The Starshield access issues was one of a series of developments in Ukraine's relationship with the US that has alarmed Kyiv recently as it defends against Russian forces that invaded in February 2022.
In recent weeks, Ukraine said that at some point it experienced gaps in getting intelligence from the US on Russian missile attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has complained about delays by the US on critical resupply for Patriot and NASAMS missile systems needed to defend the country from Russian attack. He has also criticized President Donald Trump's diesel deal with Russia.
Trump, in turn, has criticized Zelenskiy for Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries, as high energy prices weighed on Trump's fellow Republicans ahead of midterm elections that saw them lose control of the US Congress.
Sienik said Ukraine had sought answers from the US on what happened with Starshield, including at the Pentagon, the White House and SpaceX.
"Nobody provided answers," he said.
A group of prominent Democrats in Congress asked Musk about the incident in a letter last month and senior lawmakers have promised to investigate US aid to Ukraine more broadly.
Musk, in an October 24 post on X, said Starshield was controlled by the US government.
While he defended SpaceX's role in helping defend Ukraine, Musk condemned "virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter and offer no realistic solution to the conflict."
Zelenskiy, in comments to German public broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, expressed thanks to SpaceX while also criticizing Musk's views.
"We are grateful to SpaceX for providing us with connectivity. That was very helpful at the beginning of the war," he said.
"But we must be very clear about this: we certainly do not like his position on this war," Zelenskiy said of Musk.
(Reporting by Phil StewartEditing by Bill Berkrot)
