US President Donald Trump said that he has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to target Kyiv for one week as the region experiences frigid temperatures.
Ukraine's Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Thursday that Kyiv was in contact with Elon Musk's SpaceX over allegations that Russian drones were using internet from Starlink satellites during attacks on Ukrainian cities.
"Within hours of Russian drones with Starlink connectivity appearing over Ukrainian cities, the Ministry of Defence team promptly contacted SpaceX and proposed ways to resolve the problem," Fedorov said in a social media post.
"I'm grateful to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and personally to Elon Musk for their swift response."
Fedorov and the US-based Institute for the Study of War said earlier this week that the Russian army used Starlink satellites to guide its drone attacks deep into Ukraine.
Russia has been battering the country's energy grid as temperatures tumble below freezing and the invasion's fourth anniversary looms.
The ISW said that "Russian forces are increasingly using Starlink satellite systems to extend the range of BM-35 strike drones to conduct mid-range strikes against the Ukrainian rear."
Starlink is also widely used by the Ukrainian army for communications.
"Elon Musk's decision to urgently activate Starlink and send the first batch of terminals to Ukraine at the start of the full-scale invasion was critically important for our country's resilience," Fedorov said.
"Western technologies must continue to support the democratic world and protect civilians, not be used for terror and the destruction of peaceful cities."
Trump speaks to Putin
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to target Kyiv for one week as the region experiences frigid temperatures.
The call for a pause in attacks on Ukraine’s capital comes as Russia has been pounding the country’s critical infrastructure, leaving many around the country without heat in the dead of winter.
"I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this...extraordinary cold," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Trump added that Putin has "agreed to that," but there was no confirmation of that from Russia.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that over half of all homes in Kyiv were without heating and most of the city was cut off from electricity after Russian strikes earlier in the week.
Peace negotiations are poised to resume on Sunday amid doubts about Moscow's commitment to a settlement.
The European Union's foreign policy chief accused Russia on Thursday of not taking the talks seriously, calling for more pressure to be exerted on Moscow to press it into making concessions.
"We see them increasing their attacks on Ukraine because they can’t make moves on the battlefield. So, they are attacking civilians," Kaja Kallas said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
She stressed that Europe, which sees its own future security at stake in Ukraine, must be fully involved in talks to end the war.
The push for a settlement has been led over the past year by the Trump administration and European leaders fear their concerns may not be taken into account.
The number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides during the war could reach 2 million by spring, with Russia sustaining the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II, according to a study published by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.