President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that a 100mph restriction on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite internet service is hampering Ukraine’s interception of Russian jet-powered drones, allowing more strikes to reach civilians.

Addressing the European Political Community summit in Dublin, he said the restriction applied over occupied Ukrainian territory from which Russian drone attacks are launched.

“This means more Russian strikes get through, and more of our people are killed, our civilians are killed by Russia,” he said.

Zelensky said Ukraine was seeking details from the American side but still knew very little. He warned against decisions that treated occupied Ukrainian territory as anything other than Ukrainian. His account identified an immediate operational constraint, although the details and reasoning behind the restriction remained unclear.

The warning came alongside a broader demand: Europe must have a regular place in negotiations whose consequences could extend beyond Ukraine’s security guarantees to the continent’s relationship with Russia.

Zelensky said Europeans were already involved, but not directly and not when Russian representatives were at the table. He questioned an approach centred on a new European-Russian security framework, arguing that Europe had pursued trade and co-operation with Russia for 30 years after the Soviet Union’s collapse and that Putin’s wars reflected his own attitude towards others, rather than an inevitable confrontation.

French President Emmanuel Macron argued that Europeans must determine their own security arrangements. “There is no more US support,” he said, distinguishing American mediation from the support sustaining Ukraine’s resistance. He estimated that those gathered in Ireland represented 80% or 90% of the coalition of the willing’s contribution.

The summit followed Wednesday’s talks between Ukrainian, Russian and American delegations in Abu Dhabi. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were due to meet Zelensky in Dublin on Thursday evening after talks with Vladimir Putin earlier that day. Zelensky described the recent negotiations as serious and highlighted the importance of a proposed prisoner-of-war exchange.

Irish premier Micheál Martin said Ukrainians deserved a just, lasting peace and the right to determine their future, calling on Russia to end the war.

Around 50 heads of state and senior EU officials were attending during Ireland’s six-month EU Council presidency. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived amid the Irish state’s largest security operation. The gathering was described as Ireland’s largest political and diplomatic event.

Andy Burnham was expected later on Thursday after attending the UN Cop31 climate conference in Turkey, with further UK sanctions against Russia, a security and defence roundtable, a Ukraine meeting and bilateral talks on his agenda. For Zelensky, the unresolved issue was whether European involvement would become a regular seat at the negotiating table.