‘Just Making Things Up’: Sec of State Marco Rubio Slams Poland Foreign Minister for Elon Musk Ukraine Claim

Caleb HoweMar 9th, 2025, 5:47 pm
 
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, February 2025.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, Secretary of State Marco Rubio – February (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio blasted Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski over a claim about Elon Musk and the war in Ukraine, in a three-way war of words on Musk’s social media platform X/Twitter on Sunday, and advised the foreign dignitary to say “thank you” while he was at it.

Rubio’s testy remark came after an increasingly unfriendly back-and-forth between his Polish counterpart and Musk over the tech CEO’s satellite internet service Starlink, which has been critical to Ukraine’s defense against Russia and a primary means of communication for the Ukrainian military forces.

Musk, who joined a call with then president-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in November of last year, during which he assured Zelensky that SpaceX would continue to provide Starlink services and equipment to the country and its people, which they have been doing at no charge to Ukraine since 2022.

The exchange with Poland’s Sikorski began after he replied to a post on X from Musk saying that there should be sanctions placed “on the top 10 Ukrainian oligarchs,” implying that this would bring about an end to the war.

Another user replied that he agrees “anyone engaging in corruption should be sanctioned,” then told Musk, “but also, you got to stop pretending that Putin isn’t the aggressor.”

Musk fired back, writing “I literally challenged Putin to one on one physical combat over Ukraine and my Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.”

That is when Sikorski jumped in, accusing Musk of “threatening” Ukraine by saying their operations would be crippled without Starlink, and added, “if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.”

The equipment and service for Ukraine is funded partly by money from the United States and Poland, as well as contributions from other nations, although the precise amounts are not transparent. Poland pays for the ongoing subscriptions for those terminals which it provided, though it did not provide all the terminals. Nevertheless, Sikorski has repeatedly claimed that Poland is the “exclusive” funder of Starlink in Ukraine.

Musk posted a snarky insult in reply to the latest claims from Sikorski, calling the foreign minister a “small man” whose nation only pays “a tiny fraction of the cost” of Starlink in Ukraine.

Musk also replied to another user later after many media outlets repeated the claim that the tweet constituted a “threat” to cut off the service.

Likewise fed up, Rubio quoted Sikorski in his own reply, also seemingly accusing his Polish counterpart of dishonesty.

“Just making things up,” he wrote. “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink.”

He also advised Sikorski, “say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”

And Sikorski then replied to that message, too, starting out with a thank you directed to the Secretary of State.

Sikorski has previously and repeatedly claimed Poland was the sole provider of Starlink to Ukraine, stating at press conference in 2023 that “Mr. Elon Musk does not sponsor the Starlink modules used in Ukraine; they are and will be financed exclusively by Poland. We are doing this, and no one else is.”

It’s a claim he seemed to walk back in his reply to Sec. Rubio by saying the “vital” Starlink service is “provided jointly” by the United States and Poland.

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Caleb Howe - Contributing Editor

Caleb Howe is an editor and writer focusing on politics and media. Former managing editor at RedState. Published at USA Today, Blaze, National Review, Daily Wire, American Spectator, AOL News, Asylum, fortune cookies, manifestos, napkins, fridge drawings...