DThe Ministry of Defense assumes that an internal conversation between Air Force officers was intercepted. “According to our assessment, a conversation within the Air Force was intercepted. We cannot currently say with certainty whether changes have been made to the recorded or written version that is circulating on social media,” said a ministry spokeswoman on Saturday.
The head of the Russian state broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonjan, published an audio recording of the approximately 30-minute conversation on Friday, which may have been intercepted. Snippets of the conversation were also circulating elsewhere on the Internet, some shorter and apparently edited together later.
In the excerpts from the conversation, senior Air Force officers can be heard discussing the theoretical possibilities of using German Taurus cruise missiles by Ukraine. According to WELT information, the conversation was a meeting between the air force inspector, Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, and three officers from his branch of the armed forces, which took place on February 19 using the video conferencing software Webex.
Scholz speaks of a “very serious matter”
After the recording was published, Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised clarification. On the sidelines of a visit to the Vatican, the SPD politician spoke of a “very serious matter” on Saturday. “And that is why this is now being clarified very carefully, very intensively and very quickly and that is also necessary,” the SPD politician continued.
Scholz made the comments on the sidelines of a visit to Rome
Source: REUTERS
Several German government and opposition politicians had previously expressed their shock at the apparent espionage case. Green security politician Konstantin von Notz, who is also chairwoman of the Bundestag’s Parliamentary Control Committee, called on the federal government to report on the wiretapping scandal in the Bundestag.
“We expect an immediate and comprehensive clarification of the matter from the federal government and will request corresponding reports from the responsible committees and other bodies for the next week of meetings,” said von Notz in Berlin on Saturday. However, a statement from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is still pending.
Medvedev calls Germans fascists in propaganda post
In Russia, former Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev spoke out. He wrote on X a propaganda article: “Our historical enemies, the Germans, have once again become our archenemies. Just look at how thoroughly and in detail the “Krauts” discuss attacks with long-range missiles on Russian territory, choosing targets and the most practical methods to inflict harm on our Fatherland and our people. (…) And how do you react to this diplomatically? I don’t know …” (…)
Medvedev ended his post, written in English, with the words: “The call from the time of the Second World War has become relevant again: Death to the fascists!”
Sergei Lavrov, here in February 2024
Source: dpa/Silvia Izquierdo
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed himself more diplomatically on Saturday in Antalya, Turkey. The conversation that has now been published shows “that the war camp in Europe is still very, very strong.” The “war party” – Ukraine’s Western supporters – does not want to change course and inflict a “strategic defeat on the battlefield” on Russia.
Lavrov’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also called for “explanations from Germany”. Attempts to avoid answering these questions “would be viewed as an admission of guilt.”
Details on the Taurus debate and explosive statements about allies
The exchange heard in the audio file addresses, among other things, the question of whether Taurus cruise missiles would technically be theoretically capable of destroying the bridge built by Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in violation of international law.
Another point in the discussion is whether Ukraine could carry out the shelling without the participation of the Bundeswehr. However, it can also be heard in the recording that there is no green light at the political level for the delivery of the cruise missiles demanded by Kiev.
What is explosive is that there is talk of the British having “a few people on site” in connection with the use of their Storm Shadow cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine. There had just been anger in Great Britain over a statement made by Chancellor Scholz, which some interpreted as an indiscretion. “What the British and French are doing in terms of target control and the accompaniment of target control cannot be done in Germany,” said the SPD politician. He left it open what exactly he meant by that.
However, the sentence was understood by some as an indication that the French and British would support the control of their Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which were delivered to Ukraine, with their own forces. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak immediately denied this: “Ukraine’s use of the Storm Shadow long-range missile system and the target selection process are the responsibility of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Chancellor Scholz has emphasized several times that he is against the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine, which Kiev has repeatedly demanded. He justified this with the danger that Germany could be drawn into the war of aggression started by Russia.