Polish PM backs his minister in spat with Musk, Rubio

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has supported Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski after an exchange of emotional tweets between him, US tech billionaire Elon Musk and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Photo: PAP/Daniel Gnap

The disagreement started after Musk, head of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), wrote on the X platform on Sunday that Ukraine's defence efforts depended on his Starlink satellite service.

Musk wrote that the "entire front line would collapse if I turned it (Starlink) off".

This drew a response from Sikorski, who 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," Sikorski added.

In a series of posts that followed, Musk said that he was "never" going to turn the Starlink terminals off.

He also directly attacked Sikorski: "Be quiet, small man," he wrote. "You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink."

Sikorski's post also drew a rebuke from Rubio, who accused the Polish minister of "making things up" and said that "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," Rubio added.

Tusk took to X on Monday morning to comment on the spat.

"True leadership means respect for partners and allies," he wrote. "Even for the smaller and weaker ones. Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it."

The Trump administration has already paused military aid to Ukraine and suspended intelligence sharing with Kyiv. (PAP)

jd/mf/ ał/