Europe is rushing to provide Ukraine with alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband satellite network, after the US withdrew military aid and intelligence sharing from the country this week.
“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times on Tuesday.
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FirstFT: EU leaders in show of solidarity with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
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European leaders downplay skepticism from Trump about NATO solidarity
European leaders back defense spend push amid uncertainty over Trump aid to Ukraine
European leaders have upped the ante on defense spending plans as they look to support Kyiv and fill a potential void of U.S. aid.
Eutelsat, the owner of OneWeb, a rival to Starlink, on Tuesday said it was “actively collaborating with European institutions and business partners”, adding that it had equipment that could be “deployed swiftly in Ukraine to connect the most critical missions and infrastructures”.
But Trump has given no indication he is prepared to offer assistance to ensure any agreement holds. European promises to re-arm — the president has been telling the continent to stop freeriding on US guarantees for the best part of a decade — may have come too late.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, is leading the talks on the Ukrainian side. He said on Monday that he had spoken to Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick about finding a “path toward a just peace” and that signing the minerals deal was “crucial for both our countries”.
Keir Starmer held an online meeting with President Alar Karis of Estonia, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa of Latvia and President Gitanas Nausėda of Lithuania on Sunday morning and “underlined his focus on securing a lasting peace in Ukraine that ensures their future sovereignty, backed up by strong security guarantees”.
Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox ... their military experience in Russia’s previous wars, more urgency in solving financial or legal problems, or the fact that older Russians statistically spend ...
Let’s be clear, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is horrible. For 11 years, I have documented the war’s cost. With the full-scale invasion three years ago, my organisation established a network of human rights defenders to record mass atrocities — from the dead on the streets in Bucha to the mass graves in Izium.
Trump poised to grab Ukraine minerals on linkedin (opens in a new window)
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