German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz | Photo: EFE/EPA/CLEMENS BILAN
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius accused Russian President Vladimir Putin this Sunday (3) of trying to “destabilize Germany” by leaking a confidential military conversation about arms deliveries to Ukraine.
“It is simply a matter of using this recording to destabilize the unity of the country,” he said. He added that the goal was to “sow political division internally, and I sincerely hope that Putin does not succeed and that we remain united.”
German intelligence will check whether “the right platform has been chosen” to maintain this dialogue, Pistorius said. The minister also said he was awaiting the outcome of a military investigation before drawing conclusions. The head of the federal government, Olaf Scholz, promised yesterday a “comprehensive” investigation into the case.
The conversation was published by Russian state broadcaster RT's head, Margarita Simonyan, who claimed that the 38minute audio was an excerpt from a conversation between German officials about a possible bombing in Crimea.
During the illegal wiretapping, German officials spoke in particular about the possibility that Germanmade Taurus longrange missiles could be delivered to Kiev, what the Ukrainian armed forces would need for their operation and what their possible impact could be. Yesterday (2) Berlin confirmed the authenticity of the recording and that it had been “intercepted”.