BERLIN — German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed Tuesday that the leak by Russian state media of a phone call among senior German military officials was caused by “individual error.”
According to an ongoing investigation, the highly sensitive conference call about deploying German Taurus missiles to Ukraine was leaked because one participant dialed into the Webex call on an unsecure line from Singapore.
The officer had been attending the Singapore Airshow along with other high-ranking military officers from across Europe.
Germany probes Russian leak of call where officers discuss Ukraine aid
“Our communication systems were not compromised,” Pistorius told journalists in Berlin on Tuesday. “An event like this in this environment is understandably a find for the Russian secret services. And targeted wiretapping operations take place in the hotels used.”
“It must therefore be assumed that access to this conference was a fluke as part of a broad, scattered approach,” he added.
The 38-minute recording in which Germany’s air force chief and three other officers are heard discussing sending long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine was published Friday by Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT.
Whether the missiles could hit a key bridge over the Kerch Strait, which links Russia to the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, was also discussed.
Despite pressure from allies, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly rejected Kyiv’s long-standing request for Taurus missiles, arguing that the “very far-reaching weapon,” which has a range of about 300 miles, would risk dragging Germany directly into the war.
Since the leak was published, Russia has used it to score political points against Germany.
The deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said in his initial response Friday that Russia’s “age-old rivals — the Germans — have again turned into our sworn enemies.”
In a later Telegram post Sunday, the former Russian president said that “Germany is preparing for war with Russia.”
In a bid to downplay the leak, Pistorius stressed Tuesday that Germany still has the trust of its allies and received assurances that their confidence in Berlin remains intact.
“Trust in Germany is unbroken. Everyone knows about the danger of such wiretapping attacks and knows that no one can offer 100 percent protection,” Pistorius said.
The United States said Monday that the leak — which comes as a $60 billion U.S. assistance package for Ukraine remains stalled in Congress — was an attempt by Russia to sow mistrust among Ukraine and its allies.
“We’re all working together to try to support Ukraine, and the Germans have been right there in it,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “Every nation has to decide for itself what it’s going to do, and the Germans have stepped up. They’ve stepped up in meaningful ways.”
Pistorius said that standard preliminary disciplinary proceedings are underway but that severe personal consequences are unlikely.
“I will not sacrifice any of my best officers to [Vladimir] Putin’s games, to put it very clearly,” he said, referring to the Russian president.