Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, responded to the Tesla and X/Twitter CEO on social media after Musk barked back at a self-identified MAGA fan who rebuked him and Donald Trump for not treating Russia as the aggressor in the conflict. Musk’s tweet highlighted that his Starlink satellite program was crucial to Ukraine’s defense, and in doing so speculated about the consequences of him turning it off.
He tweeted: “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off. 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!!”
Radoslaw Sikorski, responded, apparently to the concept of Starlink being turned off, writing that Poland’s government was paying $50m a year for it and warning that Poland would seek another provider “if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable” partner.
He wrote: “Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. 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.”
That set off Musk. He responded with an insult, calling Sikorski “small man”, and argued that no other telecom provider could match Starlink’s capabilities.
He wrote: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.” – John Bowen for the Independent.
SHAKE DOWN ROUND 2: – Donald Trump is pressuring Volodymyr Zelensky into accepting a raft of new terms if the Ukrainian President wants to end the bloody and protracted conflict with Russia – while admitting the country ‘may not survive anyway’.
The ambitious new terms will be combined with a proposed mineral deal that blew up during tense negotiations that culminated in a public Oval Office spat between Trump, Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance.
Trump has now upped the ante on his original requests, insiders claim, demanding Zelensky call an election and potentially step down as leader in order to secure military aid and intelligence access from the US.
Trump is also expecting Zelensky to be open to relinquishing territory to Russia in the name of striking a peace deal, NBC reports.
‘We want to do anything we can to get Ukraine to be serious about getting something done,’ Trump told reporters on Sunday.
Earlier in the day he was asked about the future of Ukraine and sensationally admitted: ‘Well, it may not survive anyway.’
The huge trio of concessions mark a monumental shift from his initial request, which was for Ukraine to grant the United States a stake in critical mineral resources in exchange for the military aid granted in the fight against the Russian invasion.
It comes as officials from Ukraine and the US meet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this week to continue peace talks.
While Zelensky has vowed to work with Trump to get a deal over the line, he has repeatedly warned that Russia will ‘wage war’ on NATO and Europe if given the means to do so. Brittany Chain for DM 11/3.
UPDATE: 12 March – We’re now hearing from Donald Trump, who is meeting Irish Taoiseach Michéal Martin in the Oval Office.
We’re still getting information from the reporters in the room, but we do know that Trump says he has gotten “positive messages” about the potential of a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
“But a positive message means nothing,” he tells reporters. “[This is] a very serious situation.”
Trump adds that representatives are “going to Russia right now as we speak” to discuss the proposal.
“Hopefully, we can get a ceasefire from Russia. If we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible blood bath [to end].”
In what has become a frequent statement from the president, Trump again blames Joe Biden for “allowing” the conflict in Ukraine to begin.
Trump warns of ‘devastating’ penalties for Russia if talks fail.
Speaking to reporters inside the Oval Office, Trump says that penalties for Russia could be “devastating” if they opt to continue the war.
“There are things you can do that wouldn’t be pleasant in a financial sense. I can do things financially,” Trump says.
“It would be very bad for Russia. I don’t want to do that, because I want to get peace.”
Those “financial things” could be “devastating” for Moscow, he adds.
“We’re getting close to maybe getting something [on Ukraine] done,” Trump tells reporters, noting that he believes the once “difficult” Ukrainian side has changed their mindset.
“I had somebody [Zelensky] that didn’t seem to want peace. Now he’s agreed to peace,” Trump goes. “So we’ll see.”
The president declines to assess the potential for a deal, but says he believes “it makes sense for Russia and adds “we’ve also discussed land”.
US team on its way to Russia for ceasefire talks, says Trump
Bernd Debusmann Jr – Reporting from the White House – BBC
Statement: “The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”
Analysis: This is the big win for Zelensky in this agreement and sees US weapons supplies being delivered at a rate of around $2bn (£1.5bn)-worth a month, restored.
Critically, it also means Washington will once again share its intelligence data and satellite pictures with Kyiv, which helps it target Russian positions. The White House said it suspended this aid because it felt Zelensky wasn’t “committed” to Trump’s peace plan.
The Ukrainian leader had tried to voice his concerns based on some of the reasons above when he was ejected from the Oval Office. His reservations are likely being set aside while he welcomes the agreement in this form – a necessary price to pay to restore US security assistance. BBC
UPDATE Friday 14 March – DM – Ukrainian troops forced out of Kursk fear Vladimir Putin knew the US would cut military aid and intelligence sharing, a top commander has said.
Lieutenant Colonel Vano Nadiradze cannot ‘shake off the feeling’ as Moscow appeared primed and captured key villages in the territory within hours of the decision.
But despite the setback, Volodymyr Zelensky’s popularity has ‘sky rocketed’ on the front since his showdown with Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
The special forces officer also vowed that Ukraine will fight on with or without US aid as he slammed Elon Musk as ‘not stable’ and ‘widely hated’.
Lt Col Nadiradze and his men were among 1,000 soldiers who took swathes of the Russian region in a daring counter-offensive last August.
They forced Russia to divert its best fighters and employ North Korean troops to try and eject them from the 390 square miles they seized for over seven months.
It relieved pressure from the rest of the front and it was hoped the land would be a key bargaining chip in the peace negotiations But after President Trump paused military aid and intelligence sharing two weeks ago, Russia has now forced them to retreat from most of the territory.
Lt Col Nadiradze told the Mail: ‘I could not shake off the feeling and impression that they knew beforehand that Trump would cut off military aid and intelligence sharing – the latter of which was a huge detriment to our efforts.
‘The very day Trump announced his decision, the Russians got two villages – Zhuravka and Novenke, giving them logistical access to Sudzha, the biggest town in Ukrainian-controlled Kursk, which the Russians have now all but taken, their flags are in the town centre.
‘There was a real danger of being encircled there, so the command decided to vacate.’
Explaining the damage done by Washington’s decision, Lt Col Nadiradze, who commands a reconnaissance special ops group, said it had ‘hurt my unit the most’. ‘We didn’t have the data about their movements, no satellite images,’ he said.
‘We controlled Kursk for seven months and could have held for some more, if not for the cutoff of the intelligence sharing in real time from the U.S.’
Lt Col Nadiradze did not mince his words when it came to Musk, who has acted as a cheerleader for Trump posting anti-Ukraine messages on his social media platform X.
‘Musk is widely hated not only in the Ukrainian army, but in the entire Ukraine, after things he has said and done,’ he said. ‘He has only himself to blame for it.’
The officer claimed Musk had previously cut off Starlink, his satellite link that allows Ukrainians to operate on the front line. ‘Right before we were to carry out a very serious operation in Crimea, he cut it off and we couldn’t do it then,’ he said.
‘So I don’t trust him, he is not a stable man and I would be surprised if he stays in the Trump team for long.
‘But Starlink, while the best option currently, can be replaced, perhaps not fully, but adequately enough, there are alternatives, including the state intelligence shared by France and UK, which was a huge help during the week that the US intel was cut off.’
Lt Col Nadiradze said morale is in fact now high after their President stood up to Mr Trump in the Oval Office last month.
‘Zelensky’s popularity in the army skyrocketed, he was seen as someone unafraid to defend the state’s interests, their interests,’ he said.
‘Nothing could have won him more hearts here, among soldiers, than his unwillingness to back down and be bullied. The motivation has doubled overnight.’
While manpower is a problem, it is not ‘catastrophic’, he said, and ‘the firm belief is that Ukraine will fight on, with or without US aid’. They hope that the UK and the Europe will step up as Russia is a threat to ‘the entire West’.
‘We fought on Russian soil and they turned their own cities and buildings into rubble this time, not Ukrainian,’ he said.
He estimated Russia accounted for 70 per cent of losses in Kursk before the intelligence blackout but in recent days Ukraine has suffered ‘heavy casualties’.
The officer said the enemy are now ‘executing’ a number of Ukrainian troops taken prisoner ‘which goes against everything that can be considered as rules of war’.
As Putin rejected Trump’s ceasefire deal and laid down his own set of onerous conditions, Lt Col Nadiradze said he is ‘sceptical’ either side will break the impasse.
‘I really don’t believe it will happen,’ Lt Col Nadiradze said. ‘Russia has put forward conditions that equal capitulation and nobody in their sane mind would accept them. Ukrainians will reject them – and Americans too, hopefully.
‘They will try to use every ceasefire for their interests, to renew the hostilities with greater efforts, as they have done a million times back in Ukraine.’
He said he favours a Turkish, British and French led peacekeeping force in Ukraine, but warned Russia will never accept this ‘unless absolutely forced to’. ‘And they won’t be forced to,’ he added, ‘unless the current situation on the front changes – and we need help to make that happen.’ DM
UPDATE – MANIPULATION OF A NATION. – Trump’s comments on Friday came as Ukrainian troops fighting in Kursk were urged to surrender by Vladimir Putin after Donald Trump urged Russia to ‘spare’ their lives.
Moscow has recaptured the vast majority of territory seized by Kyiv in its cross-border assault into Kursk last August, including in a rapid counteroffensive over the last week.
Putin insisted that Ukrainian forces in Kursk would be ‘guaranteed life and dignified treatment’ if they laid down their arms.
He said in a televised address: ‘We are sympathetic to President Trump’s call.
‘If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment.’
But he added: ‘In order to effectively implement the US president’s call, (there needs to be) a corresponding order from Ukraine’s military-political leadership to its military to lay down their arms and surrender.’
In a social media post, the US President had called on Putin to avoid a ‘horrible massacre’ and spare the lives of ‘thousands’ of vulnerable Ukrainian soldiers who he said were ‘completely surrounded’.
Mr Trump wrote: ‘I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II.’ – DM – 15/3
UPDATE – 18/3 BBC – Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are preparing to speak to each other later today.
Moscow is considering a potential deal with the US to mine rare earths in Russia, according to Putin’s special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev.
In comments reported by the Reuters news agency, Dmitriev, who is also head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, says that Russia’s deposits of rare earths exceeded that of Ukraine’s, and that Moscow “would like to involve American companies”.
He adds that many forces were trying to derail Donald Trump’s efforts to restore dialogue with Russia, without providing details.
Dmitriev also flagged intentions to work with the US on space exploration, saying he expected to hold talks with Elon Musk about flying to Mars.
The White House’s statement in full:
Today, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace. They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people.
This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts. The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace. These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.
The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.
The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.
UPDATE 28/3: CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE – Donald Trump’s proposed minerals deal with Ukraine has been laid out by insiders – and compared to holding a gun to Volodymyr Zelensky’s head.
The deal will see the United States handed control of Ukraine’s mineral wealth and infrastructure linked to natural resources in an agreement which would be unparalleled in the history of modern diplomacy.
On top of this, the plan – which was obtained by the Daily Telegraph – hands America unprecedented control over the sale of the war torn nation’s resources which could include vetoing sales to China or restricting sales to Europe.
Despite the massive economic control handed over to the US it would come with no security guarantee in light of a future Russian invasion.
The shocking proposals come after the US met with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia earlier this month to discuss prospective steps towards a ceasefire.
Alan Riley, an expert on energy law at the Atlantic Council, told the Telegraph the document is like nothing he has ever seen before.
‘There are no guarantees, no defence clauses, the US puts up nothing,’ he said.
A United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund would control Ukraine’s natural resources including critical minerals and natural gas.
By ED HOLT for DM.
Mar 11, 2025 9:38:54 pm