By Magdalena Tröndle, dpa I Tuesday, March 04, 2024
WASHINGTON – The US government has accused Russia of trying to stir up mistrust among Ukraine and its allies by publishing an intercepted online call between senior German Air Force officers about the war.
Russia’s leak last week of the half-hour conversation between top military personnel has proved a major embarrassment for Berlin, which has described the recording as part of Moscow’s “information war.”
There are also worries in Germany that the incident could spark diplomatic tensions among the Western coalition that supports Ukraine.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby weighed in on Monday on the security breach suffered by one of Washington’s closest allies, saying Moscow was trying to “sow discord.”
“This is a bold attempt, a transparent attempt by the Russians to try to sow discord and to try to show division and try to make it look like the West isn’t unified,” Kirby said.
Russia was also trying to make it appear as if the government of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is not “unified on what they’re doing” for Kiev, Kirby said.
The officers can be heard on the call discussing the possibility of sending Germany’s longer-range Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev – a move that Scholz has stridently rejected publicly for months.
The Luftwaffe officials say that the missiles could, for instance, destroy the bridge to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in violation of international law.
According to the officers, a swift delivery and deployment of the Taurus missiles would only be possible under the direct involvement of German forces.
Deployment solely under Ukrainian command would be possible, they say, but the necessary training for Ukrainian soldiers would likely take months.
The Kremlin claimed the recording showed that the German military was discussing the possibility of attacking Russian territory.
The clip also contains a diplomatically sensitive reference to the British having “a few people on the ground” in Ukraine, in connection with the Storm Shadow cruise missiles sent to the country.
“We’re all working together to try to support Ukraine and the Germans have been right there in it,” Kirby said. “Every nation has to decide for itself what it’s going to do and the Germans have stepped up. They’ve stepped up in meaningful ways.”
“And we look forward to continuing to work with Chancellor Scholz and his government as they continue to find ways to support Ukraine.”
The conversation was published on Friday by the head of the Russian state broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan.
Sources told dpa that the discussion was hosted on Webex, a US-made online conferencing platform. An investigation into how the conversation was intercepted and recorded in under way by the military.
