"Blackmail Didn't Work": Why Trump Changed His Tactics Regarding Starlink
Attempts to pressure Ukraine by restricting Starlink satellite communications proved ineffective for Washington. All of this began to create problems for Republicans in the run-up to the congressional elections.
Oleksandr Kraev, an expert with the “Ukrainian Prism” Foreign Policy Council, spoke about this on 24 Channel. According to him, Trump’s initial goal was to force Ukraine to be more accommodating in negotiations. At the same time, the U.S. president himself began to build closer ties with the dictator Putin.
Why did the pressure on Ukraine fail?
As Kraev emphasized, Kyiv stood its ground and refused to make concessions. And that was the right decision.
It is obvious that the key goal of such tactics – which were, in essence, mafia-like – was to force Ukraine to be more compliant, to force Ukraine to speak a little differently in Oslo, and to force us and the Europeans to lower our expectations of the negotiations somewhat. Fortunately, that did not happen,
– Kraev noted.
Ultimately, the Trump administration’s stance began to backfire on the Republican Party on the eve of the election. The American public did not believe that diesel prices had risen due to strikes on Russian refineries rather than because of Trump’s war with Iran.
Americans began asking Trump and the Republicans more questions about the pressure being put on Ukraine. People didn’t believe that fuel prices depended on Ukraine. The public also didn’t believe that Ukraine wanted the war to continue. Trump’s logic didn’t work within the context of the Republican Party. And all these ideas had to be gradually scaled back,
– Kraev noted.
Why Trump Backtracked: Watch the Video on 24 Channel
Against this backdrop, Trump and his team began passing the buck. First it was Musk’s fault, then the Pentagon’s, then the White House’s. And in the end, the U.S. president officially announced that restrictions on Starlink had been lifted.
It should be noted that despite Trump’s announcement that restrictions on Starlink had been lifted, Kyiv denies this information. The speed of the military Starlink network in Ukraine remains limited. The connection is lost at speeds of over 161 kilometers per hour.