Bessent rejects Zelenskyy's allegations over satellite restrictions

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Volodymyr Zelenskyy's allegations that the US government had slowed satellite communications used by Ukraine reckless, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press on October 18.

Asked whether he could confirm that nobody in the administration had ordered restrictions, Bessent referred to denials by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Host Kristen Welker also asked about Zelenskyy's statement that intelligence sharing had been interrupted. Bessent said he knew nothing about that and called such statements untrue.

Ukrainian Defence Ministry adviser Serhii Beskrestnov had earlier reported reduced connection speeds for Ukrainian forces. Elon Musk said the system concerned was the US government-controlled Starshield rather than Starlink.

In a separate NBC interview, Zelenskyy said intelligence sharing had resumed. He said warnings of Russian attacks had been disrupted for several days.