French satellite operator Eutelsat admitted it cannot replace Starlink in Ukraine

French satellite operator Eutelsat says it cannot quickly replace Starlink for Ukraine. In the event of a possible withdrawal by Elon Musk’s company, Eutelsat would only be able to provide limited connectivity in Ukraine.

This was stated by Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke in an interview with Politico.

“If we were to take full responsibility for all communication channels in Ukraine and for all its citizens, we wouldn’t be able to do that. Let’s be very honest: I think we can provide connectivity for some critically important government services,” Berneke said.

She added that Ukraine would be better off “having multiple options,” and noted that reliance on Starlink is a “dependency that can be resolved in the White House or [Donald Trump’s residence] Mar-a-Lago.”

In early March, the Financial Times reported that satellite operators from Luxembourg (SES), Spain (Hisdesat), and the U.S. (Viasat) were in talks with EU governments about offering connectivity solutions for Ukraine in light of a possible Starlink exit.

European Commission representative Thomas Regnier said that the EU plans to propose alternative satellite communication solutions for Ukraine by 2030, while interim options are currently under discussion.