U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Ukraine does not have Starshield, has requested it for deep strikes inside Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Ukraine does not currently have access to Starshield and has asked Washington for the military satellite service to conduct deep strikes inside Russia.

Rubio made the remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on October 17, before departing for Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He distinguished Starshield from Starlink, saying Starlink is a commercial product while Starshield is a military product used by the U.S. military.

“They’ve asked for access to it in order to conduct deep strikes inside of Russia,” Rubio said of Starshield. He said Ukraine’s request is under discussion, including how Kyiv would want to use the system.

Asked about recent disruptions affecting Ukrainian military satellite communications, Rubio said no one at the White House ordered Starlink speeds to be reduced and said his understanding was that service had been restored. He rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s statement that the disruption was deliberate.

Rubio’s description differs from Reuters reporting this week. Reuters, citing two U.S. officials and a Western official, reported that the Pentagon received an instruction originating inside the White House to slow SpaceX’s Starshield service used by the Ukrainian military. The officials did not identify who issued the instruction. Trump has said he did not order the restriction.

Rubio also defended President Donald Trump’s decision to waive Russia-related sanctions and tariffs while the administration conducts a 60-day review of their economic effects. He said the measures also affect countries that buy Russian energy, including India, and must be considered alongside pressure on global energy supplies.

On a separate U.S.-Russia diesel agreement, Rubio said Russian diesel would reach the global market regardless and that the difference was how much would go to the United States.

Rubio also addressed violence in the West Bank after American Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was beaten during an attack on Friday. “We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing,” he said, adding that Washington has asked Israel to crack down on such violence. Rubio said Trump does not want “a crisis in the West Bank.”