Hegseth tells UK counterpart that Ukraine’s access to Starlink restored

Britain’s defence secretary said he had been reassured by his US counterpart Pete Hegseth that Ukraine’s access to Starlink had been restored. Wes Streeting said Hegseth had assured him that the vital Starlink satellite communications system was back up and running, although it remained unclear what had caused the disruption, amid renewed tensions between the US and Ukraine.He sought to use his first visit to Washington as defence secretary to bolster ties that have been strained by issues including US president Donald Trump’s stance on Kyiv and the widening US-Nato rift.It came a day after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited London and said Trump had betrayed his country by limiting its use of US-made Starlink terminals which are vital for the Ukrainian military.READ MORESpeaking to the BBC after his Thursday meeting with Hegseth, Streeting said: “Unsurprisingly we did discuss Starlink. It’s not yet clear to us in the UK what happened, why the service interruption occurred.“But I am reassured, and was reassured directly by Secretary Hegseth, that the service has been restored.“And that is a demonstration, I think, of the importance of the US contribution on intelligence sharing.”He evaded questions on what caused the disruption, saying instead: “This is not the first time we’ve seen a falling-out between Washington and Kyiv.“And as I said to Secretary Hegseth, in the words of St Francis of Assisi, ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony.’“That has been the British approach in moments like this. That’s the diplomacy and the approach I’ve brought to Washington today.“I’m here to solve problems, and the UK has been Ukraine’s number one ally. We will continue to play that role.”[ Burnham reaffirms backing for Zelenskiy after Downing Street meetingOpens in new window ]There have been mounting fears over the United States’ commitment to Kyiv, with the Starlink disruption following Trump’s move to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.Streeting earlier made the case for continuing American support for Ukraine in a talk held by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the Royal United Services Institute.He warned that if Russian president Vladimir Putin’s aggression was rewarded, “the consequences will not remain confined to Ukraine or to my continent”.Streeting’s meeting with the US defence secretary also came after Washington withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford following a suspected terror plot UK prime minister Andy Burnham has said was “almost certainly” directed by Iran. A Pentagon readout said: “Hegseth also thanked Streeting for communications regarding recent threats to the US military in the UK, notably, a suspected Iran-backed terror plot and security incident at the RAF Fairford airbase in Britain last month. “The incident prompted the US military to withdraw its bomber aircraft and return them to the United States.” – PA