Confusion Over Ukraine's Starlink Access After Trump Says Musk Restored Service

US President Donald Trump has claimed that SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk fully restored Ukraine's access to Starlink, after restrictions on the service hampered Ukrainian attack missions and air defence. A senior European official, however, told the Associated Press on Thursday that nothing has changed in the operation of the military-grade Starshield service.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had phoned Musk and asked him to lift limits on Ukraine's use of the system. Speaking on Thursday, Trump appeared to confirm that the service had been interrupted, but said it was once again running at optimal speeds. "You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn't make any difference," he said. "I guess the bottom line, he put it back." President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said earlier that day, before Trump's remarks, that Starlink had not been fully restored.

The interruptions pushed relations between Kyiv and Washington to a new low and set off a blame game inside the Trump administration and among its allies. Trump has denied involvement in the decision to slow the service. Secretary of state Marco Rubio has said that choices about Ukraine's Starlink access rest with SpaceX and Musk, not the White House. Musk wrote on X last week that Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government, and that any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately the president.

On the battlefield, Russia struck Kyiv with ballistic missiles overnight, following a meeting between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin on resuming peace talks. Zelenskyy said Russian aerial attacks hit 12 regions of Ukraine, killing at least four people and wounding scores more, including five children. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said two women, aged 50 and 60, died and dozens were wounded when a strike hit a market in Lozova. Another person was killed in other attacks on Kharkiv.

Downing Street rejected Witkoff's description of Putin as a "humanitarian" after their meeting. A spokesperson said: "We certainly do not recognise that characterisation, and President Putin has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own Russian people, who he has sent to their deaths on the frontline." Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha criticised Witkoff for flattering Putin, saying the latest "brutal" attacks show "what Russian 'humanism' truly sounds like."

Elsewhere in Europe, Nato member Denmark said it has agreed to buy its first long-range precision missiles to strengthen deterrence against Russian aggression, a move Moscow condemned. Defence minister Jeppe Bruus said the systems would allow strikes "behind enemy lines" if Denmark were attacked, citing a "serious and deteriorating security situation." The Russian embassy in Copenhagen said the policy was aimed at confrontation with Moscow and warned of "inevitable disastrous consequences."

Romania's top defence council said it will speed up development of surveillance capabilities and equipment to counter mines and drones in the Black Sea. The decision follows drone attacks on commercial vessels: at least seven cargo ships have been hit near the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria in the past two weeks, with 30 sailors reported dead or missing.

On energy, Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said in Kyiv on Thursday that no deals should be made to buy Russian gas while the war continues. The EU banned Russian pipeline gas under short-term contracts from 17 June and will extend the ban to long-term contracts from 1 November next year. Meanwhile, Leonid Mikhelson, head of Russian LNG producer Novatek, urged the bloc at an economic forum in Istanbul to reconsider its planned ban on Russian LNG imports, saying low storage levels had left Europe in a precarious position. "There is still time," he said.