US halts sharing intelligence on Ukraine-Russia talks with closest allies – CBS News

Tulsi Gabbard, US Director of National Intelligence, has issued a directive prohibiting the sharing of intelligence on Ukraine-Russia talks, even with close allies.

Source: CBS News, citing US intelligence officials

Details: CBS News stated that Gabbard had issued the directive to the US intelligence community on 20 July, instructing them not to share information on the progress of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, even with the intelligence agencies of the "Five Eyes" countries, an alliance formed after the Second World War that includes the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The sources said the directive has classified all information and analysis related to the talks as "NOFORN" (meaning "no foreign dissemination"). This means it cannot be shared with other countries or foreign nationals. The only exception is data that has been made publicly available.

The directive also limited the distribution of materials to the departments that produced or provided them. Meanwhile, it does not prohibit sharing diplomatic information obtained through other channels or military intelligence not related to the talks, such as details the US provides to Ukrainian forces to support defence operations.

"In general, the value of the Five Eyes intelligence partnership is that when we are making and they are making policy decisions, we can both augment each other's intelligence and therefore know more about the plans, intentions, and capabilities of our adversaries," explained Steven Cash, a former intelligence officer at the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Homeland Security.

"Among the reasons for that sort of default is the expectation that we and the other four are all sitting on the same side of the table with some other adversary on the other side," he added.

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