Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, approached US President Donald Trump with the idea of slowing down Starlink in Ukraine.

Axar.az reports, citing The Telegraph, that the billionaire tech entrepreneur approached the US president with the proposal to introduce speed limits on the system, which hampered Ukraine’s drone defences, according to four sources familiar with the discussions.

One of the sources said Mr Trump “agreed” with Mr Musk’s suggestion, paving the way for the Pentagon to execute the slowdown on Starshield, the military-grade version of the satellite communications system.

Mr Musk had previously blamed Mr Trump for the chaos, claiming any changes would have been decided by the US military and ultimately the president.

At the time, Mr Trump was embroiled in a row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries.

US officials had warned Kyiv’s team of peace negotiators that Washington could shut off intelligence-sharing and other kinds of support if the long-range attacks were not halted.

Earlier this week, one of Mr Zelensky’s advisers said Mr Musk’s SpaceX had restricted access to the Starshield system, used by Kyiv to intercept jet-powered drones and strike behind enemy lines.

Speaking on the fringes of an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, the Ukrainian president called the slowdown a “very dangerous and unpleasant surprise”.

On Wednesday, Mr Musk denied he was responsible for limiting Starlink access, blaming the White House. He claimed that “any limits on speed or usage” were “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS”, referring to Mr Trump.