The Kremlin has claimed that wiretap recordings of German military personnel released over the weekend prove that Western countries were involved in the Ukraine conflict.
The claim was made by a spokesperson on Monday, shortly after the Russian government reportedly summoned the German ambassador. A day earlier, Berlin's government said the release of the recordings via social media was part of an effort to “destabilize” Germany.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said discussions among military officials about the possibility of Ukraine using German-made Taurus missiles to attack Russian targets “concealed direct Western involvement in the Ukraine conflict.” I will highlight it once again.”
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published footage of German envoy Alexander Graf Ramsdorf refusing to answer questions from Russian journalists upon his arrival at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.
“The German ambassador…was summoned in connection with public conversations between German officers regarding Crimea,” the RIA said.
However, the Berlin government said the envoy was not summoned, contrary to reports in Russian state media.
“Our ambassador attended (Monday) morning a long-planned meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
story
A 38-minute recording of the discussion was posted on Russian social media late Friday. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson later asked for “an explanation from the German side” on social media.
Officers were discussing the potential consequences of using Taurus missiles. The conversations also included pointing missiles at targets such as the Kerch Bridge, which connects mainland Russia with Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
The audio leak occurred during a debate in Germany over whether to supply missiles. Ukraine seeks more weapons as ammunition stocks run low, but after two years of war, military aid from the United States is held up in Congress and the EU is unable to procure enough weapons to transport Because they are struggling with this, they are retreating on the battlefield. .
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far refused to launch the missiles, fearing it would escalate the conflict.
Peskov tried to convince the Kremlin that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was actually a defensive move against a U.S.-led proxy war.
“The recording itself was made by the German Bundeswehr. [German armed forces] “We are discussing substantial and concrete plans to attack Russian territory,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The spokesperson added that it was unclear whether the German military had acted on its own initiative.
“Information warfare”
A German Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed to AFP news agency that the ministry believes conversations in the air force were “intercepted”.
German Chancellor Scholz has promised a thorough investigation into the leak.
On Monday, he reaffirmed his reluctance to send Taurus to Ukraine.
“You can't deploy a weapon system that is so pervasive and then deploy it without thinking about how that weapon system is going to be controlled,” he said. “If you want to take control, that's only possible if German soldiers are involved. To me, that's out of the question.”
His hesitation is a source of friction within the three-party coalition government and a source of conflict with Germany's conservative opposition parties.
Berlin's defense minister said on Sunday that Russia was waging an “information war” aimed at creating division within Germany.
“This incident is much more than simply intercepting and publishing conversations…This is part of information warfare. [Russian President Vladimir] President Putin is fighting,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Sunday.
“This is a hybrid disinformation attack. It's about division. It's about undermining our unity.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied accusations that it spread false or misleading information when faced with allegations from other countries.
Russian state media TASS reported on Monday that in his comments, Pistorius said German officers discussed a scenario of using Taurus missiles, which would give the go-ahead to supply weapons to Ukraine. He said that does not mean that.
“I think the officers fulfilled their purpose. They were considering different scenarios without any planning and left no doubts about it,” Pistorius told reporters. “Neither I nor the Prime Minister have given the green light for the use of Taurus.”
He said it was his “job as a leader” to think through possible scenarios.
Germany is one of the NATO countries that supplies Ukraine with tanks and other weapons. Russia accuses countries it calls the “Western Group” of using Ukraine to wage a proxy war against Russia. NATO claims it is helping protect Kiev from a war of aggression.