7 minutes agoWashington has shared information with Ukraine before impacting key Russian warship
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)The United States says they have shared intelligence with Kiev regarding the location of the Russian cross-border “Moskva”, before the battleship was hit by Ukrainian forces and sank, a development described as a major defeat for the Russian Army. But on the other hand, the Pentagon denied today that it had played a role [...]
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement that the United States did not provide specific information to Ukraine to hit the battleship, but added that Washington and the Allies regularly share intelligence with Ukraine.
“We were not involved in the Ukrainian decision to hit the ship, or in the operation they carried out”, Kirby said. “We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's intentions of hitting the ship”, he added further.
On Thursday, an American official said it was Ukraine itself who decided to shoot him with rockets and sink the main Russian fleet ship on the Black Sea. But given Russia's attacks from the sea, in the direction of Ukraine, the United States has offered a range of intelligence information, including the locations of these vessels, said the same official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration has stepped up the exchange of intelligence information with Ukraine, along with shipments to weapons and rockets, to help it repel Russia's attack. The discovery of this information on US support in the battleship attack comes after the White House is under pressure from the Republicans to do more in support of Ukraine's resistance, and while polls suggest some of the Americans have questioned whether President Joe Biden is showing enough severity to Russia.
In an interview for television network CNN on Friday, Kirby said intelligence information Washington has provided to Ukraine is based on a legitimate process, and that they are limited, as he added.
The Pentagon spokesman acknowledged that the US are always concerned about the potential for escalation of the conflict with Russia, a country that has nuclear weapons.
At a time when Russia is generally facing problems with its offensive, Moscow has issued increasingly threatening warnings to the US and its allies in NATO, that it will attempt to hit weapons shipments that are strengthening Ukraine's defence.
From the moment Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the attack on February 24th, the White House has tried to balance support for Ukraine, with an approach that is not intended to provoke a direct fight between Russia on the one hand and the US and its allies in NATO, on the other.
The American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday, said the US were unaware that Ukraine was planning to hit the battle until after the operation was conducted. American television “NBC News” was the first to announce the American role in shipwreck.
Speaking earlier Thursday, after an article in the newspaper “New The York Times” regarding Washington's role in the murder of Russian generals on the part of Ukrainian forces, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said American agencies do not provide intelligence on the whereabouts of top military leaders in the field of battle, or do not participate in decisions, which Ukraine's military makes about the targets it selects to strike.
“Ukraine combines the information that we and other partners provide, with information it collects, and then makes decisions on its actions”, said Kirby.
