- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.org
- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.org
The US has cut off intelligence-sharing with Kyiv in a move that could seriously hamper the Ukrainian military’s ability to target Russian forces, according to officials familiar with the matter.
The move follows the decision on Monday by the Trump administration to suspend military aid deliveries to Ukraine and comes after a dramatic breakdown in relations between the US president and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
[…]
While the US has also formally blocked its allies from sharing US intelligence with Ukraine, two officials said that recipients with assets inside the country were likely to continue passing on relevant intelligence to Kyiv. But that would not apply to time-sensitive and high-value intelligence, such as that needed for Ukraine to conduct precision strikes on moveable Russian targets.
The US decision to ban its allies from passing intelligence to Ukraine was first reported by the Daily Mail.
To my knowledge, intelligence gathering is one of the capabilities for which Ukraine and, indeed, all non-US members of NATO depend on the United States the most, and one which they can less readily ramp up than the production of military hardware and materiel. This latest move is, perhaps, an even bigger blow to a fair and durable peace than the recent suspension of US military aid.
Just imagine if Trump was in the White House in 2022. Biden’s intelligence warned Zelenskyy of the amassing troops and the impending invasion which may have bought his country time to redeploy forces and static defenses enough to thwart the entire attack. In fact it’s quite possible the Russian plan to seize Hostomel Airport was passed on to Ukraine as well.
Putin would have used a coup rather than an invasion if trump was in the office then.