Ukraine’s defence minister yesterday thanked Elon Musk after the US tycoon said efforts to stop Russia from using Starlink satellites for drone attacks seemed to have worked.

“The first steps are already delivering real results ... Thank you for standing with us. You are a true champion of freedom and a true friend of the Ukrainian people,” said Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Elon Musk said that steps SpaceX had taken to stop the “unauthorized” use of Starlink by Russia seemed to have worked.

“Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked. Let us know if more needs to be done,” SpaceX CEO Musk said on X.

Despite Musk’s differences with Ukrainian officials over his views on the war with Russia, Ukraine’s military still relies on tens of thousands of Starlinks for battlefield communication and for piloting some drone missions, reports Reuters.

A new round of US-brokered trilateral talks between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Abu Dhabi on February 4-5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday, adding that Kyiv was ready for a “substantive discussion”.

“Our negotiating team has just delivered a report. The dates for the next trilateral meetings have been set – February 4 and 5 in Abu Dhabi,” he wrote on X.

“Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war.”

Meanwhile, a Russian night-time strike in the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk killed two people, authorities said yesterday.