By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Tesla CEO and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk on Saturday has alleged that American taxpayer funds meant to support Ukraine’s war against Russia are being diverted back to the United States to finance political campaigns, made a serious accusation without publicly presenting evidence to substantiate it.
Kyiv said promised missile interceptors have yet to arrive, while Ukraine, Russia and the US are preparing another round of negotiations in November.
Musk remarks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy challenged Washington’s assurances that restrictions on satellite communications used by Ukraine’s military had been lifted.
Zelenskyy said the limitations remained in place and were making battlefield operations more difficult.
Musk on X post accused Ukrainian elites of enriching themselves through international assistance while ordinary citizens bore the human cost of the war.
“What’s actually going on in Ukraine is that there is a massive incentive difference between the elites and the people. The former have grown very rich off the hundreds of billions flowing to Ukraine, while the latter’s children are conscripted to die in trenches,” Musk wrote.
He alleged that American financial assistance was finding its way back into US politics.
“And some of that US taxpayer money comes back through multiple laundry machines to fund political campaigns in America, which is why you see some politicians caring more about Ukraine than America!” he said.
Musk did not identify the politicians or campaigns he was referring to or provide evidence of the alleged transactions. His accusations remain unsubstantiated.
His comments coincided with a dispute over SpaceX satellite services that Ukrainian forces rely on for communications an drone operations.
Zelenskyy was addressing the Hudson Institute virtually said restrictions affecting Starlink and Starshield had not been fully removed.
“First, the speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still there. And the speed has not been restored,” he said.
He also warned that interceptor missiles previously agreed upon to help Ukraine defend against Russian ballistic missiles had yet to arrive.
Zelenskyy said the communications restrictions had complicated Ukraine’s military operations, although its forces continued to hold their positions.
His account contradicted Trump’s assertion that Musk had restored Ukraine’s access to the satellite services.
Trump defended Musk but also acknowledged that Ukraine might still face problems with the satellite network.
“Elon will never do anything wrong. I know him very well. He’s a fair person,” Trump told reporters.
Trump said he had not spoken to Musk about the latest complaints but would contact him if the restrictions persisted.
“If there is a problem, I’ll get it straightened out,” Trump said.
His comments followed reports that the White House had intervened over the restrictions.
Media reported that Musk had ordered a slowdown of the military-grade satellite service used by Ukraine.
The restrictions reportedly affected drone operations and caused confusion within the Trump administration.
It added that Trump called Musk on October 21 and asked him to lift the restrictions.
Ukrainian officials maintained that the service had not returned to full functionality.
Zelenskyy announced plans for another round of negotiations involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia in the first half of November after the dispute over military assistance,.
He said he had discussed the proposed talks with Trump’s representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, following diplomatic meetings in Oslo and St. Petersburg.
The proposed meeting would involve negotiating teams rather than national leaders, with Kyiv seeking to advance discussions towards a higher-level summit.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was prepared to participate at short notice but questioned Moscow’s willingness to proceed.
“We have an agreement to hold a trilateral meeting – Ukraine, the United States, and Russia – at the team level. And we hope it will happen,” he said.
He stressed that American involvement remained essential to any diplomatic breakthrough and called for Europe to be included in the wider process.
The proposed talks came as Ukraine continues to seek military equipment, reliable satellite communications and diplomatic support while resisting Russian attacks.
