Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Mykhail Fedorov
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has, for the first time, publicly detailed his dispute with ousted former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who has called for a wartime presidential election even as Ukraine remains under martial law due to the war with Russia, meaning fresh elections cannot be held under current conditions. Because musk had denied Ukraine the use of Starlink on Russian territory, “He (Trump) said that I had supposedly deceived him,. Acting on that information, Zelenskyy raised the issue directly with US President Donald Trump, telling him that Musk had confirmed the proposed use.
Earlier this year, the Defence Ministry told him that SpaceX had agreed to allow Ukraine to use Starlink over Russian territory for deep-strike operations, subject to political approval, according to Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy further stated that at a later meeting, Trump informed him that Musk had rejected the proposal and accused him of having “misled” the US president. Musk considered the move a “dangerous escalation,” he added. I went back to our defence ministry, and they told me that maybe it was so,” Zelenskyy recalled.
Zelenskyy also appeared to link Fedorov to an episode involving Elon Musk and the billionaire’s Starlink satellite internet service. The two sides subsequently sought confirmation from Musk and discussed financing for the project. Fedorov, a popular minister credited with modernizing Ukraine’s armed forces and accelerating the military’s embrace of technology and drone warfare, was dismissed last month after reportedly falling out with the country’s top military commander. His removal triggered mass protests that lasted for weeks, but ultimately failed to force a reversal of the decision.
The Ukrainian president made the remarks during an earlier off-the-record meeting with reporters, with a transcript of the discussion released publicly on Sunday (local time).