BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Germany accused Russia on Monday of being behind the broadcast on social media of confidential exchanges between senior German officers on the conflict in Ukraine, after denying the summons of its ambassador in Moscow to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In the audio recording broadcast notably by Russian media, and whose content Reuters was unable to authenticate, senior German military officials discuss a potential attack on the Crimean bridge by Ukraine and the possible delivery of missiles Taurus cruise ship to Kyiv, an initiative that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far firmly rejected.
Germany confirmed the authenticity of the 38-minute exchange and said it was investigating what it said was “eavesdropping” carried out by Russia as part of an “information war.” .
“This hybrid attack aimed to generate insecurity and divide us,” a German government spokesperson said on Monday. “And we will not allow it. We are in constant contact with our partners.”
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A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters that Germany must investigate the leak and that Britain would continue to work with Germany to support Ukraine.
He added, however, that Britain was the first country to supply long-range precision strike missiles to Ukraine and that the British government was encouraging its allies to follow suit.
Olaf Scholz reaffirmed Monday on the sidelines of a trip to Germany that he would oppose the delivery of Taurus missiles if their deployment required the sending of Bundeswehr soldiers to Ukrainian territory.
THE KREMLIN ACCUSES THE WESTERNERS
The Russian agency TASS also reported, citing an anonymous source, that the German ambassador had been summoned to provide explanations after these “leaks”. Scenario denied by Berlin.
“Our ambassador indeed went this morning to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a meeting scheduled for some time. In this regard, I answer with a simple ‘no’ to the question of whether it was of a summons,” said a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry.
The ambassador left the ministry without speaking to journalists.
The Kremlin sees this alleged recording as proof of the West’s “direct involvement” in the conflict in Ukraine.
“The recording reveals that concrete discussions on plans for strikes on Russian territory are taking place within the Bundeswehr (the German armed forces, editor’s note). No legal interpretation is necessary. Everything is obvious,” Dmitri said Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson.
Dmitry Peskov added that it was not clear whether the German armed forces were acting on their own initiative or whether it was the implementation of coalition policy.
“We need to know whether the Bundeswehr is acting on its own initiative. If so, the question is whether the Bundeswehr is controllable and whether Scholz is in control of the situation. Or is this part of the policy of the German government”, s he is asked.
The German government spokesperson on Monday called the accusations “absurd” propaganda.
(Reporting by Reuters; French version Zhifan Liu and Sophie Louet, editing by Blandine Hénault)
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