'Say thank you' Rubio tells Poland amid Ukraine Starlink spat

[highplainsdem]

Source: Reuters

-snip-

Rubio had hit back at Sikorski, saying in a post on X that he was "making things up" and that "no one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink".

"And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now," Rubio added.

In a separate reply to Sikorski's post, Musk wrote: "Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink."

A Polish foreign ministry spokesperson said by text message that providing Starlink services was not an act of charity from the U.S. and that Poland paid a subscription.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-says-it-may-need-alternative-musks-starlink-ukraine-2025-03-09/

---

To understand what this is about, see an earlier thread and especially reply 7:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143413903#post7


Both Musk and Rubio are an embarrassment to the US.

[vapor2]

1. As Adam Schiff would say, screw Rubio and the horse he rode in on

I am seriously sick of the hatred and greed by these repugs

[HereForTheParty]

25. Unanimously confirmed, no?

nm

[red dog 1]

2. STFU Rubio!

You lying sack of $HIT

[Evolve Dammit]

3. Disgusted. Trumpers suck. And they know it in their black little hearts. Deporables waaaay too kind. Evil. Just Evil.

[Paladin]

4. Say "I gotta go fuck myself," Rubio... (nt)

[MLWR]

5. "Say, 'thank you'"

WTF is this? Does everyone in that so-called 'administration' think s/he's the parent-figures of other world leaders? Is this crap what passes for "diplomacy" these days? Really, WTF?

[Ray Bruns]

19. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) foreign countries are going to get sick and tired of the Manbaby's and his sycophants

schtick and going to start telling them to go fuck themselves and they are going to be locked out of every international conference on the planet.

[IronLionZion]

6. Did Rubio or Musk say thank you for the money?

Do they know how subscription services work?

[4catsmom]

7. praying someone will smash the mouth

of the next American politician to tell them to say 'thank you'

[Skittles]

8. JFC

TRUMP AND MUSK AND VANCE AND THE ENTIRE FUCKING GOP ACT LIKE A BUNCH OF PRE-TEENS, WTF

[mwooldri]

9. Eutelsat/OneWeb can't come fast enough.

A non US solution. They have both geosynchronous and low Earth orbit satellites. Commercial launch will come this year apparently (Russian sanctions set them back, as they were using the Russians to launch their satellites).

[SheltieLover]

10. Fuck you, you little worm!

[Raven]

11. So Rubio admits that Poland will be next if Ukraine falls. Nice.

[Aussie105]

12. Chalk up another hint to European countries

that the US is no longer a reliable and friendly ally, and should get independent of anything American ASAP.

Trust is easy to lose, much harder to regain. Going to be a big job once the adults wearing big boy pants regain power in the US from the play acting toddler adults.

[travelingthrulife]

20. Biden worked his butt off regaining that trust.

Shattered in under 3 months.

[Grokenstein]

13. Like a nasty little yap-dog, running around Master's feet, snarling and barking at strangers.

He's trying to make up for his embarrassing/embarrassed performance during the Zelenskyy ambush, in order to remain in the good graces (cough) of his leashholder.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. Thank you Elon for shutting it off

Is that what you want little Marco?

[Emrys]

15. Musk's so preoccupied with gibbering bollocks on Twitter that he can't keep up with

market developments. Maybe he daren't look at the stock market as it shows how Tesla's failing. If he did, he'd see Eutelsat's OneWeb stocks rocketing.

There are a number of alternatives to Starlink. He should be grateful for the publicity he got thanks to its use in Ukraine. He should say "Thank you". Has he ever said "thank you"?

Starlink isn't that reliable, especially not in areas where electronic warfare's ongoing, which is one of the reasons the Ukrainian military looked for alternatives a couple of years ago. OneWeb was just one, but it looks like being the earliest direct replacement.

OneWeb measures up against Starlink very well. OneWeb's contention ratios and download speeds can be a lot better than Starlink's. In a head-to-head comparison, OneWeb fared very well against Starlink: https://www.ipinternational.net/oneweb-vs-starlink-head-to-head/

The linked article's findings are that Starlink's latency is better than OneWeb's (a factor of Starlink's satellites being in lower earth orbit), but OneWeb has now stated that in Europe (including Ukraine), its latency is on a par with Starlink's.

OneWeb terminals are more expensive than Starlink's, but that should change with economies of scale as they rapidly increase production. Eutelsat claimed a couple of weeks ago it could provide 40,000 terminals in a couple of months, given the required financing - which isn't likely to be a problem now given its stock's performance and the unprofessional puerile drivel issued by the American government on a regular basis at the moment.

[thought crime]

16. Applebaum connection

Radoslaw Sikorski is married to American journalist Anne Applebaum, who is author of books “Autocracy Inc.” and “Twilight of Democracy”. She is deeply critical of Putin and Trump an is not a favorite of the far right.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

30. Welcome to DU

[AmericaUnderSiege]

17. Are we allowed to say the 'c' word here? In the British sense?

Cuz Marco Rubio gives me an intense impulse to use it.

[marble falls]

22. All depends, but best not to use it. I do get the impulse.

[Maeve]

24. Save it for Bluesky--totally accepted there

[Tonk]

18. Rubio was called out by Rump at the address to Congress.

He isn't long for his job. Bolton told him to resign and leave with whatever dignity he has left.

[marble falls]

21. Tonk, as in the card game? ...

... BTW - welcome!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

29. Welcome to DU

[maxsolomon]

23. There is a case to be made for nationalizing Starlink.

But MFer would never contemplate it.

[SSJVegeta]

26. I actually read this as "Say thank you rubio" tells...

[C_U_L8R]

27. The world does not tremble at Marco Twerpio

Go home and get your water bottle, Marco. No one cares what you have to say.

[HereForTheParty]

28. Musk wrote: "Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost."

DIAF

[LessAspin]

31. Double Down

So now every time the unelected Nazi goes off on a drug addled rant the Administration has to double down?

Cool 🆒 Cool 🆒 Cool 🆒

[Hassin Bin Sober]

32. Oh so Russia on the border of Poland is a bad thing. Glad they admit that reality.

[Prairie Gates]

33. This whole "You need to say thank you" thing is really giving spouse or child abuser

High levels of ICK.