America just got accused of throttling Ukraine's satellites to force a peace deal

Ukraine's satellite network for tracking Russian drones just got slowed down again.

And this time, Ukrainian officials say Washington did it on purpose.

To force Kyiv into a peace deal.

So here's what we know. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's President, says speed restrictions on Starshield are back. The network is capped at 161 kilometres an hour. That's across the whole front line, and across Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory too.

Starshield is the military version of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink system. Ukraine uses it to guide interceptor drones onto incoming Russian jet-powered drones.

And those interceptors need speed to catch them.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine's military looked into this. Their conclusion? Not random errors. Systemic restrictions. He says some Russian strikes have already got through because Ukrainian interceptors couldn't reach them in time.

He wrote on social media that the restriction says quote "helps Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes on Ukraine".

Now, Zelenskyy himself hasn't blamed anyone directly. He says Ukraine is still trying to establish the facts with the American side.

But senior Ukrainian officials went further. They told the Financial Times they believe Washington restricted Starshield on purpose. To pressure Kyiv while peace talks are happening right now.

One of those officials says the cause is unclear because Washington is staying silent about it.

And that's the whole story in one line. Nobody in Washington will explain why this happened. So Ukrainian officials are left assuming it's a pressure tactic.

The Pentagon hasn't explained it. The State Department hasn't explained it. The White House hasn't explained it. SpaceX hasn't explained it. Despite Ukraine asking, repeatedly.

Now the timing. This came back a day after two days of US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi. Those talks ended with a prisoner-exchange plan. No wider peace deal.

The sticking point is still the same one. Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to hand over all of Donbas. That's about a fifth of Ukraine's entire territory.

And on the same day the restrictions were confirmed, Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, met Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

They were due to fly straight to Dublin after. To see Zelenskyy, who's at the European Political Community summit there.

Kushner wants European countries added to the peace process. A multilateral format, he calls it.