**Polish Official Warns of International Crisis Over Ukraine’s Starlink Access**
Canceling Ukraine’s access to Starlink, a satellite internet service, could lead to an international crisis between Poland and the US. This is according to Polish Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski.
**Poland Helps Ukraine Maintain Starlink Access**
Poland has helped Ukraine maintain its Starlink access by providing half of all terminals used in Ukraine. The country has supplied over 20,000 terminals since 2022. Starlink plays a crucial role in Ukraine’s civilian and military communications infrastructure.
**Canceling Poland’s Starlink Contracts Would Be a Crisis**
Gawkowski said that canceling Poland’s contracts with Starlink would be a big international relations crisis. He cannot imagine a situation where a business relation between Poland and a US company, in this case SpaceX, would be suddenly interrupted.
**Reports of US Threat to Cut Starlink Access**
The comments from Gawkowski follow reports that the US has threatened to cut Ukraine’s Starlink access unless Kyiv agrees to a critical minerals deal with Washington. However, Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX and founder of Starlink, has denied these reports.
**Poland Diversifies Satellite Internet Access**
If Musk were to cut off Ukraine’s Starlink access, Gawkowski said it would be equivalent to terminating a corporate contract with an EU nation. Poland and the EU are currently trying to diversify satellite internet access provided to Ukraine, considering the Paris-based company Eutelsat to provide satellite internet access to Ukraine’s army.
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