On Sunday, in English, on Meet the Press. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said what it would mean, for him, if America took Putin’s side. “If the United States will officially take the side of Russia… of course we will not prevail.” Then: “It’s a historic mistake and a big tragedy.” The NYT put the sentence on the Trump administration’s moves, including what Kyiv describes as ongoing restrictions on Starshield, the military satellite internet provided by the Pentagon through SpaceX. It is not a peace communiqué. It is an interview. Trump, he said there, remains an ally in his eyes.

Starshield is the military version of Starlink. The Ukrainian army uses it for drones, offensive and defensive. On Wednesday morning the military reported that drones relying on the service stopped above 100 mph and had disruptions below that speed too. Front operations, air defence. Zelenskyy spoke of a “planned operation” to cap the speed. On NBC: the message came from government. He does not know which cabinet. Asked whether Trump or Musk had decided, he said he did not know but thought “both”. If Trump lifts the restriction tomorrow, “it will immediately work as it was before.”

Trump has denied ordering restrictions on Starshield. He said he did not think Musk had ordered them either. Musk has suggested that any limit comes from the administration: Starshield systems are “owned and controlled by the U.S. government.” A bipartisan group of senators has demanded an inquiry. Denys Sienik, a Ukrainian diplomat in Washington, on Saturday: four days after the questions, neither the Pentagon nor SpaceX had answered. He cannot confirm that full capabilities are back. He hopes for unlimited speeds, under intensified Russian air attacks.

On another thread, Zelenskyy thanked the Americans that intelligence sharing on incoming Russian ballistic missiles, blocked for a time, had been “deblocked”. “Now it works.” European and Ukrainian officials told NBC the intelligence limit, days after Trump eased sanctions on Russia, was likely meant to push Kyiv toward concessions. That is a reading. It is not a court finding. Sanctions and Starshield are not the same file. Anyone who melts them turns two messages into one.

Zelenskyy was due to speak on Sunday, by phone, with U.S. negotiators. He remains open to a meeting, “even with all the difficult circumstances.” The White House did not immediately respond to NBC. Between “ally” and “historic mistake” sits a speed of 100 mph that the drones no longer hold and an intelligence line which, he says, has come back.

Until an answer from the Pentagon or from SpaceX, the disruptions remain. After an answer, what remains is whether the speed is unlimited again. Anyone who closes the file on a television sentence skips the four days without confirmation.

Image: Andrew Milligan, Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv, 28 April 2018, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The photograph is of the square, not a command post.

Sources consulted: Zelensky says Trump risks ‘historic mistake’ if he backs Russia — The New York Times; U.S. taking Putin’s side would be a ‘historic mistake,’ says Zelenskyy — NBC News.