Britain said Thursday that allies’ faith in Germany remained strong despite a leaked audio recording of German military officers discussing the war in Ukraine.
“I don’t want to play into the hands of some Russian narrative about divisions between allies. What I see… is incredible unity between allies,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said at a press conference in Berlin alongside his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.
A 38-minute recording of confidential German army talks, in which the officers debated the possible use of German-made Taurus missiles by Ukraine, was posted on Russian social media on Friday.
The conversation also turned to long-range missiles supplied to Ukraine by France and Britain, with reference made to British soldiers on the ground there.
Germany has pinned the blame for the successful wiretap by a foreign intelligence service on the “individual error” of a participant, who joined the meeting via an unsafe connection from Singapore.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Tuesday the leak “should not have happened” but stressed: “Trust in Germany is unbroken”.
Germany has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to “destabilise” Ukraine’s western backers with the leak of the audio.
“We will not let Putin divide us, no matter what means and methods he uses,” Baerbock said at the press conference.
Relations between Germany and Britain have been particularly strained on the question of long-range missile deliveries, with Germany under pressure to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Explaining his decision to refuse the deliveries to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it could not copy British assistance to Ukraine with the “targeting” of the missiles.
He did not elaborate on exactly what form that assistance was taking.
“It would be unjustifiable if we were to participate in targeting in the same way,” Scholz said last week.
Doing so risked an escalation by involving German soldiers directly in the conflict, he suggested.
In Berlin, Cameron said the delivery of Taurus missiles was up to German officials but stressed that British supplies of long-range missiles had “helped (Ukraine) to defend themselves”.
Sending long-range missiles would not lead to an escalation in the conflict beyond Ukraine, Cameron added.
“You’re not causing escalation, we’re allowing Ukraine to defend itself,” he said.
