Finland's Stubb asks Musk to expand Starlink coverage for Ukraine to bolster air defence
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said that he appealed to SpaceX owner Elon Musk to expand Starlink satellite internet coverage for Ukraine so that it can strike Russian ballistic missile launchers. This is one of three things Ukraine needs this winter.
As noted, with winter approaching, Ukraine is facing an acute shortage of air defence systems capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. Ukrainian officials believe that expanding Starlink coverage for Ukraine would help it target the Russian launchers used to fire these missiles.
"That's why ... I plead that Elon Musk would give the Ukrainians the possibility to use Starlink in areas where there are ballistic missile launchers, either in the occupied territory of Ukraine or in Russia for strategic purposes because that would save lives," Stubb said in an interview with Reuters.
Looking ahead to winter, the Finnish president said that Ukraine needs three things.
"One is air defences and even Starlink would be to a certain extent a good air defence there. And the second one is energy installations for the winter. The third one is money. So those are the things that we're working on. We're working on putting up a winter package because I don't see the war ending, you know, before the winter," he added.
Stubb welcomed the resumption of US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, following visits by US envoys to both Moscow and Kyiv.
"I still think that the easiest solution would be to call an unconditional ceasefire, basically stop the killing, as President Trump reiterated in his speech in the UN General Assembly," he said.
Such a step, Stubb added, would be followed by negotiations on security, territory, reconstruction and compensation, as well as other issues.
According to media reports, during a meeting with the US president at the White House on 28 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to ask Elon Musk to allow Ukraine to use Starlink on Russian territory to target ballistic missile launchers.
On 7 August, The Atlantic reported that Musk was still refusing to allow Ukraine to use Starlink on Russian territory.
During the winter, Elon Musk responded to a request from then Defence Minister Fedorov for help in addressing the use of Starlink on Russian attack drones. On 5 February, Starlink terminals used by Russian forces stopped working en masse.
In March 2025, Musk said he would never switch off the Starlink network for the Ukrainian military, even though he disagreed with Ukraine's policies. Musk made the comment after saying that Ukraine's front line would collapse if he were to switch off Starlink.