Polish PM Tusk cautions 'friends' against arrogance after Starlink spat

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00:00It's the latest in the war of words involving the Trump administration and European officials

00:05over Ukraine.

00:07On Sunday, Elon Musk responded to a comment on X and said his Starlink system was the

00:11backbone of the Ukrainian army, adding the entire front line would collapse if he turned

00:16it off.

00:17It prompted Poland's foreign minister to weigh in.

00:20Radoslaw Sierkowski told a tech billionaire Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the

00:24Polish digitization ministry at the cost of $50 million a year.

00:29He added Warsaw would be forced to look for other suppliers if SpaceX proved an unreliable

00:33partner.

00:35Musk responded to the message on X writing, be quiet small man, you pay a tiny fraction

00:40of the cost.

00:41The US Secretary of State also chimed in.

00:44Marco Rubio accused his Polish counterpart of making things up and denied that anyone

00:49made threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink.

00:52He demanded gratitude and reminded Poland that without Starlink, Kiev would have lost

00:56the war and Russian forces would be at Poland's border.

01:00The Polish prime minister is now cautioning against arrogance.

01:04In a message on X, Donald Tusk called for respect among partners and allies.

01:09The American public is beginning to realize that the activities of companies such as Starlink

01:14in Ukraine is not only charitable but also helps Ukraine, if only by the fact that it

01:20pays for Starlink's subscription.

01:24Last year, Ukraine said it had around 42,000 Starlink terminals.

01:29During the war, they've been the most reliable means of communication and have enabled troops

01:33to observe what's happening on the front lines.

01:36In February, Ukraine said it was exploring alternatives to Starlink.

01:41That was before the Oval Office debacle between Vladimir Zelensky and Donald Trump, a showdown

01:46which resulted in the US suspending military aid to Kiev.

01:52The Canadian province

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