Joint Base Andrews, Maryland - Washington has again rejected accusations of a deliberate throttling of the satellite internet used by Ukraine for military purposes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday.
"No one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet or slow down speeds so that certain drones couldn't use it," Rubio told reporters before leaving for Uzbekistan.
He left open what had caused the problems. "It sort of happened, but my understanding is it's been restored," he added.
Rubio confirmed that Kyiv was using satellite internet for drone flights.
The top US diplomat denied that Ukraine had access to the military internet system Starshield.
"Starshield is a contract with the US military. It has nothing to do with Ukraine," Rubio said.
"I know Ukraine wants access to Starshield ... They've asked for access to it in order to conduct deep strikes inside of Russia. They do not have access to it at this moment," he explained.
Starlink and Starshield were different systems, he said.
Zelensky insists there are ongoing Starlink restrictions
On Wednesday, reports from Ukraine described problems with the use of Starlink satellite internet. According to these reports, drones lost their connection when moving faster than 100 miles per hour, and sometimes at lower speeds too.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the throttling of the service shortly afterwards. The White House and Elon Musk, owner of the operator SpaceX, however, rejected accusations of deliberate restriction of functionality.
Despite contrary Ukrainian media reports, Zelensky still insists that there are ongoing restrictions. The Ukrainian president has also repeatedly made allegations of deliberate functional curtailment.