Responding to a report by Reuters, Musk called the claim “false” and accused the news agency of lying. He offered no evidence to back up his statement.

His response came after the Kyiv Independent shared the news, which cited anonymous sources alleging that Starlink’s continued operation in Ukraine was being tied to an agreement over mineral resources.

The US has threatened to cut Ukraine’s access to Starlink if Kyiv doesn’t agree to a critical minerals deal, Reuters reported on Feb. 21, citing sources. Negotiations are ongoing after President Volodymyr Zelensky refused an initial proposal, though US President Donald Trump said a deal is near.

Ukraine aims to conclude an agreement with the US for its natural resources on Feb. 24, Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, told Japanese media outlet NHK.

SpaceX began providing Starlink terminals to Ukraine shortly after the full-scale invasion, giving Kyiv a crucial communications advantage on the battlefield. Since then, however, Musk has grown increasingly vocal in criticizing Ukraine.

Musk, currently the world’s richest man, heads the Trump-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an organization tasked with eliminating waste from the federal budget.

Musk has called for shutting down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), an organization that provides vital humanitarian aid to Ukraine. He has also amplified Russian disinformation and mocked Zelensky for calling Ukraine an independent country. Musk’s comments on X are often misleading or outright false.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to negotiate a swift end to the full-scale war. Members of his administration held direct talks with Russian officials earlier this week and are currently working to secure a critical minerals deal with Ukraine.

“The president, his team are very much focused on continuing negotiations with both sides of this war to end the conflict, and the president is very confident we can get it done this week,” Leavitt said following the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz will be “working around the clock all weekend to get a deal and end this conflict with Ukraine,” she added.

According to Leavitt, Trump is confident that Moscow is prepared to negotiate an agreement to end the war.

“He believes very strongly that Russia is willing to make a deal, he’s fighting to make a deal,” she stated.

“The president said he wants the killing to stop, he wants to stop seeing innocent men die, and he wants peace.”

Leavitt did not provide any additional details on the types of peace negotiations that would take place in the coming days. Trump previously announced that the US and Russia would hold a second round of talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine was not invited to participate in the Saudi Arabia discussions.

In his address at CPAC earlier in the day, Trump claimed that the US and Ukraine were “pretty close” to a deal regarding Ukraine’s critical natural resources. The two countries have been working intensively over the past few days to hammer out the details of a revised version of the agreement after President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected an initial proposal on the grounds that it did not offer concrete security guarantees.

Trump stated at the conference that the deal would compensate the US for the aid it sent Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up,” he continued, adding, “We’re asking for rare earth and oil — anything we can get.”

Leavitt told reporters that the resource agreement was “very important” to Trump.

“When it comes to the critical minerals, this is an important piece for the president,” she said, adding, “It’s very important for the president, because it will recoup American tax dollars. And it also will be a great economic partnership between the United States of America and for the Ukrainian people as well, as they rebuild their country following this brutal war.”

Officials from the US and Ukraine have indicated that they believe an agreement will be reached soon, but a draft of the new proposal seen by the New York Times (NYT) provides no specific security guarantees for Kyiv in exchange for 50% of the revenues from Ukraine’s natural resources.

Zelensky has objected to Ukraine’s exclusion from the US-Russia negotiations and dismissed any potential outcomes of talks that do not involve Kyiv’s direct participation. Trump’s overtures toward Russia — coupled with increasingly hostile rhetoric towards Zelensky and Ukraine — have alarmed Kyiv and leaders across Europe.

This week marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“Europe has given $100 billion. The United States has given $350 billion because we had a stupid, incompetent president and administration,” he told the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland on Saturday.

“I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. So, we’re asking for rare earth and oil, anything we can get,” he added.

“So, we’re getting our money back. We’re going to get our money back because it’s not fair. It’s just not fair.”

Since February 2022, the US Congress has appropriated $183 billion for Ukraine, including more than $66 billion in security assistance, according to the Pentagon and Ukraine Oversight, the interagency group tasked with presenting reports to Congress.

Trump has repeatedly stressed that Kiev and its European backers must provide an account about all the funds and has insisted that Zelensky was on a “gravy train” with American money during the Joe Biden administration.

Zelensky, who stated recently that Ukraine would have a “low chance” without American help, has refused to sign a deal that would have granted US companies 50% ownership of the country’s mineral resources. He later argued that any deal must also include concrete security guarantees for Kiev. Trump, for his part, told reporters at the White House that, if signed, the minerals agreement could bring up to $500 billion to the US.

Trump has ramped up his criticism of Zelensky this week, branding him “a dictator without elections” and accusing him of squandering an opportunity to make peace with Russia. He insisted that Ukraine was in no position to complain about being sidelined during the US-Russian talks, which took place in Riyadh on Tuesday.