一群两党的众议院和参议院议员正在向特朗普政府施压，要求恢复并扩大乌克兰对“星盾”卫星系统的使用权限，并警告称，若不这样做将使基辅针对俄罗斯的军事行动瘫痪。在致国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的信中，这些议员——他们全都是乌克兰的坚定盟友——敦促政府不仅要取消与该系统相关的任何速度限制，还要扩大“星盾”合同，以增强乌克兰的军事能力，甚至包括在俄罗斯领土上。
A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers is pressing the Trump administration to restore and expand Ukraine’s access to Starshield satellite systems, warning that a failure to do so will cripple Kyiv’s military operations against Russia. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the lawmakers — all of them staunch Ukraine allies — urged the administration not only to lift any speed restrictions related to the systems, but also to expand the Starshield contract to bolster Ukraine’s military capacity, even over Russian territory.
“乌克兰部队依赖这些服务进行指挥控制、情报共享、战场通信以及无人系统的操作，”议员们写道。“服务的任何降级，包括连接速度降低、地理覆盖范围受限或访问中断，都会削弱乌克兰的军事效能，并给俄罗斯部队带来作战优势，这将延长冲突并让更多平民陷入危险之中。”
“Ukrainian forces depend on these services for command and control, intelligence sharing, battlefield communications, and the operation of unmanned systems,” the lawmakers wrote. “Any degradation in service, including reduced connection speeds, restricted geographic coverage, or interruptions in access, undermines Ukraine’s military effectiveness and provides Russian forces with an operational advantage that will extend the conflict and put more civilians in harm’s way.”
该信件由三位参议员签署——汤姆·蒂利斯（共和党-北卡罗来纳州）、埃莉萨·斯洛特金（民主党-密歇根州）和马克·凯利（民主党-亚利桑那州）——以及五位众议员：布莱恩·菲茨帕特里克（共和党-宾夕法尼亚州）、马西·卡普图尔（民主党-俄亥俄州）、迈克·奎格利（民主党-伊利诺伊州）、吉姆·科斯塔（民主党-加利福尼亚州）和吉米·帕内塔（民主党-加利福尼亚州）。
The letter was signed by three senators — Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) — and five members of the House: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.).
这一推动只是国会山就有关报道发出的更广泛抗议的最新部分，据报道，“星盾”接收器本月早些时候停止为速度超过一定阈值的乌克兰军事装备工作。“星盾”是由SpaceX运营的“星链”卫星系统的一个专门分支，SpaceX由亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克拥有。马斯克曾表示，任何限制“星盾”的决定都不是他做出的，而必定来自特朗普总统和五角大楼。然而，《华尔街日报》最近的一份报告反驳了这一说法，称马斯克是限制措施的幕后推手。
The push is just the latest part of a broader outcry on Capitol Hill over reports that Starshield’s receivers quit working earlier this month for Ukrainian military equipment operating above a certain speed. Starshield is a specialized branch of the Starlink satellite systems run by SpaceX, which is owned by the trillionaire Elon Musk. Musk has said any decisions to restrict Starshield were not his, but must have come from President Trump and the Pentagon. A recent report by The Wall Street Journal, however, contradicted that account, saying Musk was behind the restrictions.
这份报告激怒了国会山上的许多议员，他们表示，影响乌克兰军事能力——或任何美国盟友军事能力——的决策，不应掌握在任何单一公司手中。“当服务可用性、覆盖范围和性能的决策直接关系到乌克兰自卫能力时，不应完全由私营供应商自行决定，”这组两党议员在致海格塞斯的信中写道。特朗普周四表示，其政府已联系马斯克，后者随即恢复了对乌克兰的“星盾”服务。
The report infuriated many lawmakers in the Capitol, who say decisions affecting the military capability of Ukraine — or any U.S. ally — should not be left in the hands of any single company. “Decisions regarding service availability, coverage, and performance should not be left solely to the discretion of a private provider when they have direct consequences for Ukraine’s ability to defend itself,” the bipartisan group wrote to Hegseth. Trump on Thursday said his administration had contacted Musk, who in turn restored the Starshield services to Ukraine.
但乌克兰官员周五表示，这些系统仍未恢复运行。在中期选举前最后几周的竞选活动中，这一问题已浮出水面，民主党指责特朗普和马斯克——这位共和党大额捐助者——以牺牲一位民主盟友为代价，向俄罗斯示好。这一话题也很可能在跛脚鸭会议期间再次出现，因为一些众议院共和党人已警告共和党领袖，除非政府扭转方针、向乌克兰提供更多援助，否则他们准备阻挠本党的立法议程。
But Ukrainian officials on Friday said the systems were still not functioning. The issue has emerged on the campaign trail in the final weeks before the midterms, with Democrats accusing Trump and Musk, a major GOP donor, of cozying up to Russia at the expense of a democratic ally. The topic is also likely to resurface in the lame-duck session, as some House Republicans are already warning GOP leaders that they’re ready to block their party’s legislative agenda unless the administration reverses course and lends more help to Ukraine.
在这封信中，这组两党乌克兰盟友为海格塞斯提出了一个思路：他们希望国防部官员动用《国防生产法》赋予的单方面权力，“优先提供和扩展支持乌克兰国防所需的卫星通信服务”。“这些权力应与现有合同机制一并考量，以确保乌克兰保持对其合法军事行动所需的带宽、服务水平和地理覆盖的可靠接入，”议员们写道。“确保可靠接入卫星通信对于维持乌克兰的防御和保护美国国家安全利益至关重要。”
In their letter, the bipartisan Ukraine allies offered one idea for how Hegseth could do so: They want DOD officials to use their unilateral powers under the Defense Production Act “to prioritize the provision and expansion of satellite communications services necessary to support Ukraine’s defense.”“These authorities should be considered alongside existing contractual mechanisms to ensure that Ukraine maintains reliable access to the bandwidth, service levels, and geographic coverage required for its lawful military operations,” the lawmakers wrote. “Ensuring reliable access to satellite communications is essential to sustaining Ukraine’s defense and protecting U.S. national security interests.”