Donald Trump welcomes Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on 28 February 2025, hours before their Oval Office meeting collapsed and the minerals deal went unsigned.
Credit: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked Donald Trump to sanction the Russian and Chinese companies building Russia’s answer to Starlink, the Financial Times reported.
He has raised it with Trump several times, including at a recent meeting in New York. Ukrainian news agency UNN cited those details from the FT report.
A network for the front line
The network, called Rassvet, is being built by Russian firm Bureau 1440. Zelensky said it could start working by early next year.
He also said China was helping.
“We know that China works on satellites, works on the possibility of helping Russia with a similar Starlink,” he said.
Satellite internet has become vital on the battlefield in Ukraine. Starlink links up troops and drones, and Russia has tried to jam its signals.
A Russian network of its own would give Moscow’s forces a link that the US and SpaceX cannot switch off.
Still small, for now
Rassvet is a long way behind Starlink. Bureau 1440 launched its first 16 working satellites in March, and needs more than 250 before it can offer service, TNW reported in June.
The company has pointed to a 2027 commercial launch, a date it has already pushed back once. That makes Zelensky’s timeline more ambitious than the company’s.
Neither the White House nor SpaceX has commented publicly on the request.
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