Zelensky calls on US to “shut down” Russia’s economy and open access to Starlink

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States can accelerate the negotiation process with Russia by increasing economic pressure on Moscow and granting Ukraine access to the Starlink system.

He made the statement to journalists in Pryluky, where he was accompanied by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband.

Zelensky was responding to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that a diplomatic resolution to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is currently unattainable.

“We are not in a diplomatic deadlock,” Zelensky said, adding that Washington should not simultaneously discuss economic projects with Russia while speaking of a diplomatic deadlock.

The Ukrainian president called on the United States to “shut down” the Russian economy: to end economic cooperation with Moscow and impose sanctions on Russian weapons. He also demanded that Ukraine be given access to Starlink, citing the fact that the system had already been used in the situation involving Iran.

Zelensky also said that Kyiv had informed the United States and European countries about China and Russia’s joint work on developing Starlink alternatives. According to him, European countries are also developing similar technologies, but have not yet achieved the necessary results.

“Help us protect the sky and dominate it. And then Putin will sit down at the negotiating table and start talking,” Zelensky said.

According to him, if pressure is increased, the Russian side could lose its positions within two to three months.

Ed Miliband, for his part, said that Ukraine had long demonstrated its readiness to end the war, and called for increased pressure on Moscow, since it is the Russian side that is not taking steps toward peace.

Zelensky said that Ukrainian negotiators will travel to the United States on October 9–10 for meetings with the American side.

Against the backdrop of Rubio’s statements about the unattainability of a diplomatic settlement, reports emerged of negotiations between senior Russian and American officials on the possibility of bringing in an American investor to restore the operation of the Nord Stream pipelines. Senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties also called on the American administration to use legally available tools to increase pressure on Russia.