Live Blog | Brussels prepares for Zelensky’s arrival Related articles

Starlink Internet can no longer be used

04:30 | US aerospace company SpaceX has taken steps to prevent the Ukrainian military from using its Starlink satellite internet service to control drones. SpaceX executive Gwynne Shotwell said Starlink was never intended to be used as a weapon.

SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, shipped thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine last year at its own expense. The terminals can connect to the approximately 4,000 satellites SpaceX has in space, allowing Ukraine to continue communicating when mobile networks and terrestrial connections fail.

The Ukrainian military also uses Starlink for communication, which Shotwell says is fine. Controlling the drones with it, which carry out attacks and reconnaissance flights, however goes against the agreements made. “It was never our intention for them to use it for offensive purposes,” Shotwell said. “There are things we can do about it and we have,” said Shotwell, who did not provide further details.

At the end of last year, Ukrainian troops struggled for days with malfunctions in the Starlink system. Shotwell couldn’t say if these were related to the measures taken by SpaceX.

Emotion for the arrival of Zelenskyj

04:00 | An extraordinary summit of the 27 EU heads of government and state on migration on Thursday, also at the request of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, was dominated by enthusiasm for the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. It’s his first visit to Brussels since the Russian invasion of his country almost a year ago.

The Ukrainian president has addressed EU leaders at their summits via video link from Kiev over the past year. And many also went to Kiev. He now comes to shake hands with all 27 and also reportedly has several face-to-face conversations, including with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whom he knows only by phone.

Zelensky also addresses an extraordinary session of the European Parliament. It is scheduled from 10:00 to 11:00. The summit also starts at 10:00. Due to his security, Zelensky’s agenda was not disclosed and the summit schedule was also kept flexible.

Support for Ukraine was already the first item on the agenda, but the main part must be talks about emigration. The flow of migrants has increased again after the pandemic. The 27 countries seem to agree that more should be done to stop illegal migrants. For example, through better surveillance and the construction of fences at the external borders, which is suddenly no longer taboo. The Netherlands also wants a better overview of the movements of asylum seekers, including within the EU, and who is and who is not registered.

Zelenskyj asks Paris and Berlin for fighter planes (2)

01:00 | In Paris on Wednesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky again called for modern fighter planes for his country. Zelensky is in Paris for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. France and Germany could turn the tables on the war against Russia, Zelensky told a joint news conference.

“We have very little time,” Zelensky said. “The sooner we have heavy long-range weapons and modern aircraft for our pilots, the sooner this Russian aggression ends.”

President Macron has said that Russia must not win the war under any circumstances and that France and Germany will support Ukraine for as long as it takes, Scholz confirmed. During an evening dinner, the three heads of government discuss “operational details,” Macron said.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky was in London, where he spoke with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. There too he asked for fighter planes. Sunak recently announced that he was investigating the possibility of supplying fighter jets to Ukraine on a long-term basis. Zelensky will travel to Brussels with Macron and Scholz on Thursday to attend a European summit and speak in the European Parliament.

Speech Pink Floyd musician angers Ukraine

00:30 | At the request of Russia, Roger Waters from the famous British pop group Pink Floyd addressed the United Nations Security Council. The musician called the Russian invasion of Ukraine illegal, but “provoked”. The latter immediately aroused the ire of the Ukrainian government.

The invasion of Ukraine was illegal and “I strongly condemn it,” Waters said in a video message. He also condemned the “provocateurs”. They would be the ones who, according to him, would have provoked the invasion. He didn’t say who he meant by that.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN strongly criticized. How sad for his former fans to see him accept that he is just another brick in the wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda.

Waters’ speech follows his open letter to the wife of Ukrainian President Zelensky, in which he criticized the arms supply to Ukraine. He responded to her call for strong Western support.