FT: US intel used to convince EU of Russia’s alleged plans to invade Ukraine
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US intelligence reports abetted in swaying previously skeptical European countries that Russia could "soon order its troops into Ukraine."
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A Ukrainian soldier in the Donetsk region (AP)
The Financial Times reported that the US actively shared intelligence in order to persuade the EU and NATO of Moscow's alleged plans to invade Ukraine.
The "unprecedented sharing" of US intelligence reports showing alleged Russian military deployments along the border helped persuade formerly skeptical European countries, including Germany, that Russia could "soon order its troops into Ukraine," officials told the US newspaper.
One official told The Financial Times that "many allies were not convinced that serious things were happening," adding that "we were surprised about this [intelligence] gap - how and why the US was seeing things that we were not seeing."
According to European defense and security officials, US President Joe Biden now has the support of NATO and the EU for possible retaliatory measures against Russia.
The US President intends to discuss the issue of Ukraine, as well as other topics, during the upcoming video call with Putin on Tuesday, December 7.
On November 21, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russia has no aggressive plans for Ukraine. The Kremlin also expressed concern that Kiev has concentrated nearly half of its armed forces on the borderline with the Donbas region in the country's east.
On her part, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by Kommersant as saying, “The [United] States is conducting a special operation to aggravate the situation around Ukraine while shifting the responsibility onto Russia.”
Zakharova added, “It is based on provocative actions near Russia’s borders accompanied by accusatory rhetoric.”
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