Blinken hopes Starlink will remain fully available to Ukrainians

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he expects that the Starlink internet service will remain "fully available to Ukrainians."

Blinken said this in an interview with CNN, Ukrinform reports, citing the Department of State.

A journalist asked the Secretary of State the following question: "SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has recently confirmed a report […] that last year, he blocked access to his Starlink satellite network in Crimea in order to disrupt a major Ukrainian attack on the Russian navy there. In other words, Musk effectively sabotaged a military operation by Ukraine, a U.S. ally, against Russia, an aggressor country that invaded a U.S. ally. Should there be repercussions for that?"

Blinken replied that he could not speak to a specific episode. However, according to him, Starlink has been a vital tool for the Ukrainians to be able to communicate with each other, and particularly for the military to communicate in their effort to defend all of Ukraine's territory. 

"So what we would hope and expect is that that technology will remain fully available to the Ukrainians. It is vital to what they're doing," he said.

According to Blinken, Starlink is an important part of Ukraine's success in liberating territories captured by Russia.

"We expect that it will continue to be so," he added.

Photo: STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images