Hours after an American delegation touched down in Moscow for peace talks, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s military had experienced a renewed wave of “significant disruptions” to the Starshield satellite internet service, hampering its ability to defend itself against Russia.
“These are not random errors but systematic speed restrictions,” he said in a Telegram post. “For us, this primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet-powered drones.”
His comments came as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, arrived in the Russian capital for peace talks with President Vladimir Putin , a day after trilateral talks aimed at ending the war were held in the United Arab Emirates.
The two-day Abu Dhabi summit, the first such meeting since February, ended with no major breakthrough, although representatives of Russia and Ukraine agreed on a large exchange of prisoners of war.
In Moscow, Kushner told Putin that Europe wanted a role in future negotiations, according to Russia’s Tass state news agency.
European countries cut communications with the Kremlin and refused to engage with Russia directly after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 , but have since expressed concern about the Trump administration’s softening stance toward the Kremlin. Kushner last week said he also wanted to address “long-term European security and stability,” signaling a focus beyond just Ukraine that prompted a firm response from European leaders.
Expanding on that theme on Thursday, Kushner said there was a “very strong momentum and desire” from European leaders to “engage together,” adding that “understanding the long-term security between Russia, Ukraine, and Europe is a conversation that we started having with them.”
While representatives from several European countries were in Abu Dhabi, they did not play a direct role in the talks. Russian negotiators have previously opposed their involvement, citing Europe’s support for Kyiv as an obstacle.
At the meeting in Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported that Putin proposed a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission to the city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, similar to the Melania Trump-brokered mission in Oleshky that allowed residents to leave the Russian-controlled town.
Meanwhile in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said military units had for several days reported speed restrictions affecting the entire front line and Russian-occupied parts of the country.
A limit of 100 mph is once again being “imposed on Starshield,” he said of the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink communications service. The system normally runs at a stable speed exceeding around 250 mph.
“These are not random errors but systematic speed restrictions,” he said. “For us, this primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet-powered drones.”
“Unfortunately, there have already been strikes that got through because our interception systems cannot reach sufficient speeds and are unable to intercept in time,” he added.
Zelenskyy, who is set to meet with Kushner and Witkoff in Dublin on Friday, added that Ukraine was trying to clarify the reasons for the restriction with the U.S. side.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
Craig Albert, the graduate director of national defense studies at Augusta University, said decreasing Starshield’s speed would slow down how fast Ukraine’s offensive drones travel, “which makes them pretty much target practice for faster interceptor drones by the Russians.”
It would also slow down Ukrainian interceptor drones and their missile defense systems, meaning “Russian drones can get through their defenses much quicker.”
“The Russians can target more infrastructure, and the Ukrainians just don’t have the speed to counteract,” he said, adding that “for the price, the scale, the speed, the scalability, and the efficiency,” there were no real options other than Starshield.
Ukraine first raised the alarm last month about speed limits being imposed on Starshield, which is crucial to its battlefield operations and air defenses.
Starlink owner Elon Musk initially put the responsibility for the restrictions on Trump, who has been trying to pressure Kyiv to make concessions to end the war. The U.S. government said that any such decision could only have been made by Musk.
Trump denied being involved in the decision concerning the slowdown. Musk later said in an X post that SpaceX had acted to close a “loophole” with its civilian Starlink service, accusing Ukraine of violating “Starlink terms of service” by using it for offensive drone strikes, which the country denied.
Moscow has so far resisted such efforts to bring Europe to the main negotiating table, something Ukraine has long sought.
The talks came against the backdrop of continued fighting on the front lines, where neither side has achieved significant progress for months.
Instead, the focus has shifted to daily attacks with long-range missiles and drones. Russia has targeted Ukrainian cities, aiming to cut off water and power supplies as winter sets in. Kyiv has resumed attacks on energy infrastructure, a campaign that drew Trump’s ire.
Ukrainian officials said Thursday that five civilians had been killed by Russian strikes on the country overnight, and 29 people injured. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had shot down 71 drones.
Henry Austin is a senior editor for NBC News Digital based in London.