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Musk’s ‘small man’ spat with Polish minister bares widening US-Europe rift over Russia-Ukraine war

Poland has been one of the strongest supporters of the US, and one of the highest spenders within NATO on defence. But the allies are poles apart when it comes to Ukraine.

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New Delhi: Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, took aim at a close American ally, Poland, Sunday, calling its minister of foreign affairs, Radosław Sikorski, a “small man” and telling him to “be quiet” over the use of Starlink satellites by Ukraine in its war with Russia.

In a post on X, Musk asserted that the entire Ukrainian army would collapse if he were to shut down his Starlink satellites, claiming it was the “backbone of their army”, after urging sanctions to be placed on oligarchs from the eastern European nation to force peace.

“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!!” added Musk in his post on X.

Musk’s threats on X—of sanctions against Ukrainian oligarchs or turning off the satellite system—did not sit well with Sikorski, who said that its usage was paid for by the polish digitisation ministry, at a cost of $50 million annually.

“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,” said Sikorski.

This, however, did not go down well with Musk or US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Musk immediately called out Sikorski, pointing out that Poland paid only a fraction of the cost for Starlink and claiming that there were no substitutes for the satellite system.

The system, which consists of over 7,000 satellites, with a planned expansion to 12,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO), has roughly four million subscribers who use its communication capabilities. Ukraine has been using the system in its war with Russia.

“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,” said Rubio in response to Sikorski’s post.

The war of words on X showcases the deep divide between the current Trump administration in the US and its European allies.

Poland has been one of the strongest supporters of the US, consistently polling as one of Washington’s most steadfast allies across various surveys.

Poland has also been one of the highest spenders within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on defence. In 2024, Poland was estimated to have spent roughly 4.12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, significantly higher than what the US was estimated to have spent, which was approximately 3.3 percent of the GDP.

Poland expects to reach five percent defence spending by 2026, with nearly 51 percent of its total expenditure allocated to purchasing new equipment, primarily from the US. These figures highlight the close defence ties between Warsaw and Washington.

However, when it comes to Ukraine, the two allies are poles apart, with President Trump pressuring Kyiv to come to the negotiating table with Moscow to bring an end to the three-year-long war. The new US administration has, at times, even chosen to vote alongside Russia in the United Nations on resolutions condemning Moscow’s role in starting the war with Ukraine.

(Edited by Radifah Kabir)


Also Read: ‘Reeks of double standards’—Economic Survey on EU’s new climate rules that will hit exports


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