U.S. officials say intelligence sharing is essential to the Ukrainian government’s survival, even as they try to avoid escalating the situation.
Summary
- “The number one thing we can do is real time actionable intelligence that says, ‘The Russians are coming over the berm,’” said Evelyn Farkas, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia in the Obama administration.
- But if Russian tanks are moving over the border, and Ukraine targets them, it will be hard for Mr. Putin to make that argument.
- That the demand came when Russian troops were at Ukraine’s border explicitly linked the deployment to a possible invasion, American officials said.
- On Wednesday, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Russian counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov.
- Ukraine has sought NATO membership for years — a move that would enrage Russia — but despite the delay, the United States has balked at taking Ukraine’s accession off the table.