A German general trusts a “normal” connection and is intercepted by Russia. This explains the leak of information that allowed Moscow to broadcast 38 minutes of conversations between high-ranking officers of the German armed forces, with references to the Taurus missiles – which Ukraine would like to receive – to the Kerch Bridge in Crimea as a potential Target and the presence of English soldiers on Ukrainian territory.
The interception, which allowed the disclosure of a conversation between high-ranking German officers on Russian social media, is the result of an individual error committed by one of the participants in the intercepted conversation, specifically resulting from the use of the Webex teleconferencing application – use permitted under certain security conditions – from Singapore. It is not a symptom of a compromise or lack of security in the systems used in Germany, nor is it the work of a spy, said Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin.
Russia – he added, presenting the first results of an investigation into the incident – probably intercepted the call by accident, thanks to extensive surveillance. “Our communications systems were not compromised,” Pistorius said. “The reason the call could be recorded was an operator error on the part of a person.” This particular participant was calling from Singapore, where an air show was taking place in the presence of high-ranking European military officials, an event that was therefore a target of Russian security services.
“We must therefore assume that access to this conference was an accidental event as part of a broad and widespread approach.” Pistorius announced “preliminary disciplinary investigations” against the personnel involved, spoke of “a serious mistake” that “was not should have happened,” but made it clear that he had no intention of sacrificing one of his best officers, referring to Air Force Inspector Ingo Gerhartz, who was involved in the Webex conference at “Putin’s Games,” who called “a bad game plays”.
The minister emphasized that the damage to secrecy was “controllable.” The Allies' trust in Germany is also intact. However, all technical and organizational measures will be taken to ensure that such an incident does not occur again.
Baerbock, peace signals to France
At the same time, Berlin wanted to reaffirm that there is a deep friendship and solidarity between France and Germany. This was particularly emphasized by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock after disagreements arose between the two countries over the possible sending of Western troops to Ukraine.
“Deep friendship and solidarity are not expressed by always agreeing. If you always agree, something is wrong,” he said at a meeting with his Bosnian counterpart Elmedin Konakovic in Sarajevo. “Deep friendship is expressed above all in the fact that even if we don’t understand each other, we remain united and nothing can come between us to divide us.”
Baerbock left Sarajevo for Paris for a business meeting with her French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné. The meeting followed the emergence of disagreements between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron over the possible deployment of European troops to Ukraine. Scholz recently defended the decision not to send soldiers to Ukraine, responding to Macron's statements that he did not rule out the use of Western ground troops on Ukrainian territory.
France and Germany in particular want to work together to ensure a better supply of ammunition to Ukraine, said Sejourné and Baerbock. “United and determined: Together we are strong,” wrote Baerbock on X. “Our two countries are fully committed to Ukraine and are working together to do more and better,” wrote Sejourné.
During the meeting, the two ministers discussed global efforts to supply ammunition to Ukraine, as well as countermeasures against Russian attempts to destabilize Moldova. Sources in the delegations reported positive discussions about how Paris and Berlin can specifically help Ukraine. Meanwhile, during a visit to Prague, Macron said he wanted to support the Czech initiative to buy 800,000 artillery ammunition for Kiev.
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