Poland is paying for Ukraine's Starlink subscription, its deputy PM says

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland said on Saturday it has been paying for Ukraine's Starlink subscription and will continue to do so despite sources saying the United States could consider cutting Ukraine's access to the satellite internet system.

U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine's critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country's access to Elon Musk's vital Starlink satellite internet system, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Starlink provides crucial internet connectivity to the war-torn country and its military.

"We pay and will continue to pay a subscription fee for satellite internet for Ukraine," Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said in a post on Musk-owned social media platform X.

"I cannot imagine that someone could decide to terminate a business contract for a commercial service to which Poland is a party," added Gawkowski, who is also Poland's digital affairs minister.

SpaceX, which operates Starlink, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Ukrainian military officials did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Poland has delivered 20,000 Starlink units to Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022, and has been funding their maintenance to support internet connectivity, according to information on the Polish presidency's website.

President Andrzej Duda will meet Donald Trump later on Saturday during a visit to the United States, amid a widening rift between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that has alarmed Kyiv's European allies.

(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw and Olena Harmash in Kyiv; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)