DOMINANT ANGLE
Berlin sees the Starlink affair as a symptom of the deterioration in relations between Washington and Kiev, where Trump's statement is at odds with the Ukrainian denial.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Trump says Starshield is "back" but refuses to say if he called Musk; the Tagesschau notes that there is no official confirmation from Kiev.
- 02
A Ukrainian official quoted by The Kyiv Independent calls the claims "allesamt falsch": the 161 km/h speed limit for drone operation remains in place.
- 03
Zelensky laments that Starlink's speed has not been restored and tells CNN that lifting sanctions against Russia "would make Putin stronger".
ANALYSIS
Berlin, October 23, 2026. Handelsblatt and Tagesschau report on Donald Trump's claim that Elon Musk has restored Ukrainian access to Starlink, but emphasize the lack of confirmation from the Ukrainian side. Tagesschau headlines with Trump's request to Musk to lift the "Drosselung" (throttling) and notes that "viele Fragen bleiben offen" (many questions remain open).
According to the public channel, Starshield, the military variant of Starlink, is indeed "back" according to the American president. When asked about a possible call to Musk, Trump replied, "Ich möchte nichts dazu sagen, ob ich angerufen habe" (I don't want to say whether I called him), adding that "unterm Strich" (in the end) Musk had turned it back on. Tagesschau specifies that there is no official confirmation from Kiev at this stage.
The account is based on the Wall Street Journal, which, citing American officials, claims that Musk had ordered the restriction of Starshield, making some Ukrainian drones unusable, and that Trump had subsequently ordered him to lift it. A Ukrainian official quoted by The Kyiv Independent calls these claims "allesamt falsch" (completely false): the 161 kilometers per hour speed limit for drone operation remains in effect.
Handelsblatt puts the episode in a broader context of tensions. American-Ukrainian relations have deteriorated significantly in recent weeks, with Volodymyr Zelensky stating that Trump is on the "wrong side of history" after an agreement on diesel with Vladimir Putin and the lifting of sanctions against Russia. In an interview with CNN, Zelensky warns against new concessions: lifting sanctions would "make Putin stronger," while assuring that there is "nothing personal" with Trump.
In Kiev, Zelensky regrets that the service speed has not been restored, hopes to speak with the American Secretary of State in the coming days, and says he is ready for peace talks under American mediation, with the goal of forcing Russia to end the war.
The two media outlets therefore treat Starlink less as a technical issue than as an indicator of Washington's reliability towards Ukraine. The American congressional aspect and European dependence on SpaceX do not appear in the covered excerpts.
