Kiev: Starlink is stable and has resumed operations at speeds of 400km/h
First Lady obtains ceasefire to evacuate civilians. Pressure is growing on Elon Musk to slow down military connectivity.
Quick Look
- Melania Trump obtains humanitarian truce in Oleshky to evacuate civilians.
- Meanwhile, tensions remain over the reduced speed of Starlink to Kiev and Donald Trump is pushing for rapid peace negotiations ahead of the Abu Dhabi meeting in November.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Melania Trump has brokered a humanitarian truce in Oleshky, as tensions persist over the operation of Starlink and peace talks.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry officially confirmed that it recorded a Starlink/Starshield speed exceeding 400 km/h and that the connection was stable. Ukrainska Pravda reports it.
Melania Trump obtains the humanitarian truce in Oleshky, the small piece of Ukrainian land in the Kherson region that has been reduced to the limit and for which Pope Leo XIV had also spent time in recent days with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. The White House made the announcement: the ceasefire - it explained - will start on October 29, to allow aid to enter the town under siege and prepare for the evacuation of civilians. However, Moscow has specified that Russian forces will observe the truce in the area starting from 4 am Moscow time (3 am Italian time) on Tuesday 27 October.
To define the terms of the operation, the US First Lady worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leaders. "It became completely clear that, without my intervention, it would have been impossible to get humanitarian aid into the city and evacuate the elderly," said Melania, who has long been committed to working with Moscow to reunite child victims of war with their families. And applause for the First Lady's work came from the Kremlin: "She made a significant contribution", observed spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. And Donald Trump praised his wife, but excluded the idea that she could be involved in the trilateral negotiations between the United States, Russia and Ukraine: "She wants to save the children, this is her focus. Both sides are cooperating with her, she is doing a good job", he noted, before launching another jab at Zelensky, with whom relations remain tense after the freezing of US sanctions on Russia and the slowdown in Starlink's operations.
On the mystery of Starlink and who gave the order to slow down the service to Kiev, the commander-in-chief did not comment, but assured that he will deal with the case. "I'll take a look at it", he promised before launching into a full-throated defense of Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink inundated with criticism for the Ukraine case: "He's brilliant and we need to protect geniuses like him. I know him well, he would never do anything wrong", he observed speaking of the major financier of the Republicans in the midterms. Musk has in fact invested almost half a billion dollars in their election campaigns. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators has warned the White House that they will block all Trump appointments until Starlink service is restored to one hundred percent for Kiev. The richest man in the world - as reported by the Wall Street Journal - would be behind the stop, with Trump having called him in recent days asking him to restore full operation. But - Kiev denounced - the connection speed is still limited for military operations. "For now nothing has changed," said advisor to the President of Ukraine, Dmitry Litvin. And the lack of 100% Starlink and Patriots is exposing Ukraine to continued heavy Russian attacks. Raids which in the last few hours have hit even more energy infrastructures, leaving half a million Ukrainians in the dark.
“The winter attacks have already started,” Zelensky said after speaking with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Ukrainian president is trying to speed up negotiations ahead of the colder season, which "is the worst time" for Ukraine. Trump is also in a hurry to end a war that he promised to resolve in two days when he was elected. To seek a turning point, Kiev, Washington and Moscow will meet at a technical level in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. The commander-in-chief's hope is that of an agreement by the end of the year, with the signing of peace at the G-20 in Miami hosted at Trump Doral. An accelerated timeline that does not convince critics, convinced that the president only wants to enter the history books with the photo between Putin and Zelesnky, without caring about the real result. A bit like he did with the big announcements for Gaza, which remained almost only on paper.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Trilateral technical meeting in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.
Very likely · Within weeks
Start of humanitarian truce in Oleshky on October 27-29.
Very likely · Within days
Open Questions
- Who ordered the initial Starlink slowdown for Kiev?
- What will be the final terms of the peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi?





