
Germany last week accused the Russians of leaking an intercepted recording of a discussion by high-ranking officers of the German military on how to support Ukraine and denied allegations that it was proof that Berlin was prepared to go to war with Russia, the Associated Press reported.
Russian state media published a 38-minute audio recording on March 1 of German military officers discussing the war in Ukraine and how Ukraine could use Germany’s Taurus cruise missiles against Russian forces.
Berlin confirmed the recording’s authenticity on March 2 and said it was investigating what it described as an act of eavesdropping by the Kremlin.
Wolfgang Beuchner, a spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the claim that the audio was proof that Berlin was preparing to join the war in Ukraine was Russian propaganda and part of Moscow’s “information war” aimed at creating division within Germany.
In late February, Chancellor Scholz expressed reluctance about sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, saying he did not want to draw Germany directly into the war.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova last Monday threatened “dire consequences” for Germany if nothing was done to stop Berlin’s so-called plans to wage war against Russia.
In the leaked audio, which was posted by RT chief editor Margarita Simonyan, four German officers, including the head of the German Air Force Ingo Gerhartz, discussed possible deployment scenarios for the Taurus missiles before meeting with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
The officers suggested that the only way for the missiles to be delivered and deployed quickly was if German forces participated as it would take months to train Ukraine soldiers to use the missiles without German assistance.
In a press briefing last Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow would await Germany’s investigation into the recording to find out whether the officers were speaking on their own initiative.