Rubio and Musk turn on Polish foreign minister in spat over Starlink use in Ukraine: ‘Be quiet small man’
John Bowden
Sun, March 9, 2025
The Trump administration’s top diplomat joined DOGE chief Elon Musk in picking a fight with Poland’s foreign minister on Sunday as the three squabbled over Musk’s Starlink system and its use in Ukraine.
Sunday’s three-way exchange was just the latest example of American foreign relations turning into a blame game as Marco Rubio, the secretary of State, reiterated the White House’s position that Europe was insufficient with its praise and gratitude after three years of US support for Ukraine’s defense.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, responded to the Tesla and X/Twitter CEO on social media after Musk barked back at a self-identified MAGA fan who rebuked him and Donald Trump for not treating Russia as the aggressor in the conflict. Musk’s tweet highlighted that his Starlink satellite program was crucial to Ukraine’s defense, and in doing so speculated about the consequences of him turning it off.
He tweeted: “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off. What I am sickened by is years of slaughter in a stalemate that Ukraine will inevitably lose. Anyone who really cares, really thinks and really understands wants the meat grinder to stop. PEACE NOW!!”
Radosław Sikorski was instructed to ‘say thank you’ by Marco Rubio
(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Sikorski responded, apparently to the concept of Starlink being turned off, writing that Poland’s government was paying $50m a year for it and warning that Poland would seek another provider “if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable” partner.
He wrote: “Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.”
That set off Musk. He responded with an insult, calling Sikorski “small man”, and argued that no other telecom provider could match Starlink’s capabilities.
He wrote: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Sikorski responded, apparently to the concept of Starlink being turned off, writing that Poland’s government was paying $50m a year for it and warning that Poland would seek another provider “if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable” partner.
He wrote: “Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.”
That set off Musk. He responded with an insult, calling Sikorski “small man”, and argued that no other telecom provider could match Starlink’s capabilities.
He wrote: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
It also triggered a response from Rubio, formerly a vocal supporter of Ukraine’s resistance against the Russian invasion. In 2022, he called on the Biden administration to publicly state that the US would support Ukraine’s government “as long as they are willing to fight, even if it’s only an insurgency,” during an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.
Rubio’s presence at the Oval Office blowup between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was picked apart on social media, as his critics noted the secretary appeared uncomfortable and remained quiet through the entire combative exchange.
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The secretary wrote in a tweet on Sunday that Sikorski was “[j]ust making things up” by suggesting that Musk was considering ending Starlink’s contracts with the Ukrainian military. “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” wrote Rubio, adding: “And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”
His latter remark echoed the words of Vance, who’d questioned Zelensky during their confrontation whether the Ukrainian leader had said “thank you” for the continued support of the US government (he had repeatedly done so).
But Musk assured his followers separately that he would not see Starlink services cut off to Ukraine over a dispute with Poland’s foreign minister.
Musk later sought to reassure supporters of Ukraine’s struggle to defend itself against the Russian invasion by saying that Starlink would ‘never turn off its terminals’ (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)More
“To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals. Without Starlink, the Ukrainian lines would collapse, as the Russians can jam all other communications! We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip,” he wrote.
His claim about the US using such a service as a “bargaining chip” is rather ill-timed, given that the White House ordered American intelligence agencies to cease real-time cooperation with the Ukrainian military within the past week. In response, Russia has renewed a deadly offensive against Ukrainian defensive positions and civilian centers.
Musk says Ukrainian front would collapse if he turned off Starlink
DPA
Sun, March 9, 2025
Elon Musk who heads US President Donald Trump's 'Department Of Government Efficiency' (Doge) uses his cellphone camera as President Trump speaks during an Address to Congress in Washington. Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
US billionaire Elon Musk has emphasized the importance of his Starlink satellite system for Ukrainian troops fighting Russia.
The Starlink system "is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off," Musk, a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, wrote on X on Sunday.
With the war in mind, Musk wrote that he was tired of years of "slaughter" and said that Ukraine would lose in the end anyway. It is therefore necessary to make peace immediately.
Sikorski gets dressing down
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski responded to Musk's post on X and wrote that his government would cover Starlink costs for Ukraine to the tune of $50 million a year.
"If SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers," he added.
Sikorski's comments sparked an angry reaction from Musk.
The billionaire retorted: "Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost." There is no substitute for Starlink, Musk added.
Rubio also weighs in
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attacked Sikorski, charging in his own X-post that the Polish foreign minister was "just making things up."
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"No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink," Rubio asserted.
"And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now," the top US diplomat added.
After Poland spat, Musk vows Ukraine can keep Starlink
AFP
Sun, March 9, 2025
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) greets Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski at the State Department on February 21, 2025, weeks before a US-Polish spat erupted over Elon Musk's Starlink company
Andrew Harnik/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AF
Billionaire industrialist and senior White House advisor Elon Musk vowed Sunday to maintain Ukraine's access to his Starlink satellite network, after a fierce online clash with Poland's outspoken foreign minister.
The United States has suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after a disastrous February 28 meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
This has led to fears that Musk, a close Trump ally, might cut off Ukrainian access to his private Starlink communications system, which is used extensively by Kyiv's frontline troops for battlefield communication.
On Sunday, during exchanges on his own X social media platform, Musk promised that this would not be the case, after an online clash with the Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, that drew in US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals," Musk wrote.
"I am simply stating that, without Starlink, the Ukrainian lines would collapse, as the Russians can jam all other communications! We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip."
Trump's administration is pressuring Zelensky to sign over much of Ukraine's mineral wealth to the United States and to agree to a ceasefire with Russia without clear security guarantees as a prelude to a peace deal.
Musk supports this position and warned on Sunday that Ukraine's "entire front line would collapse" if he turned off Starlink for Kyiv's forces, which have been battling a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.
This prompted Sikorski, in a post on X, to warn: "Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year.
"The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers."
Musk responded with scorn, telling the Polish minister: "Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink."
Washington's top diplomat, US Secretary of State Rubio, was also drawn in to the exchange, accusing Sikorski of "just making things up."
"No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink. And say 'thank you' because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now," he said.
dc/bbk
Elon Musk and Marco Rubio Bury the Hatchet and Team Up to Bully Key Ally Poland
Julia Ornedo
Sun, March 9, 2025
Marco Rubio and Elon Musk set aside their bad blood on Sunday to demand a “thank you” from Poland for the satellite internet services the billionaire’s Starlink provides to the Ukrainian army.
In an X post bragging about how he once challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a fistfight over the Ukraine war, Musk said the Starlink system developed by his rocket company SpaceX is “the backbone of the Ukrainian army.”
“Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off,” he wrote.
Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign affairs minister, saw the post as a threat.
“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year,” he said in reply to the SpaceX CEO. “The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.”
Before Musk could respond, an unlikely ally stepped in to defend Starlink: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who reportedly blew up at the billionaire last week in a tense Cabinet meeting shouting match.
Rubio accused Sikorski of “just making things up.”
“No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” he said on X. “And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”
Rubio seemingly forgot that Poland shares a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad province, which means that Russians are, quite literally, on the country’s border.
Poland shares a land border to its north with Russia. / Encyclopaedia Britannica / Universal Images Group via Getty
Minutes later, Musk returned to the conversation with his own retort to the Polish official: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Sikorski backed down, thanking Rubio for “for confirming that the brave soldiers of Ukraine can count on the vital internet service provided jointly by the U.S. and Poland.”
But it wasn’t just the Polish minister who saw Musk’s initial post as a threat to cut off Starlink’s services in Ukraine.
Musk issued a clarification in response to other users who called him out for seemingly “threatening” to shut down the satellite internet service.
Rubio accused Sikorski of “just making things up.”
“No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink,” he said on X. “And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”
Rubio seemingly forgot that Poland shares a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad province, which means that Russians are, quite literally, on the country’s border.
Poland shares a land border to its north with Russia. / Encyclopaedia Britannica / Universal Images Group via Getty
Minutes later, Musk returned to the conversation with his own retort to the Polish official: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Sikorski backed down, thanking Rubio for “for confirming that the brave soldiers of Ukraine can count on the vital internet service provided jointly by the U.S. and Poland.”
But it wasn’t just the Polish minister who saw Musk’s initial post as a threat to cut off Starlink’s services in Ukraine.
Musk issued a clarification in response to other users who called him out for seemingly “threatening” to shut down the satellite internet service.
“To be extremely clear, no matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals,” the billionaire said. “I am simply stating that, without Starlink, the Ukrainian lines would collapse, as the Russians can jam all other communications! We would never do such a thing or use it as a bargaining chip.”
The New York Times last week reported that Musk and Rubio had a tense exchange in front of President Donald Trump during a recent Cabinet meeting.
Musk reportedly tore into the Secretary of State for failing to fire enough people, a mandate the billionaire has been carrying out through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Rubio, who according to the Times has been privately furious with Musk for dismantling USAID, countered that 1,500 State Department staff had already taken an early retirement offer.
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