MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. The recording of discussions between high-ranking German military officers could have been leaked by France and the UK to take revenge on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his principled position on arms supplies to Ukraine, according to Alexander Rahr, a German political analyst.
As proof that the recording is authentic, Rahr, chairman of the Eurasian Society in Berlin, pointed to the fact that it focuses on risks Germany would face in a direct military conflict with Russia, while the potential of striking the Crimean bridge took up less time in the conversation. The range of issues that were discussed by the German military officers did not come as a surprise to the German analyst, he told TASS, because they are trying to work out in a private conversation how to accomplish their mission to help Ukraine "defeat Russia" by supplying weapons. But Rahr said the very fact that the conversation was leaked is surprising, given that it was conducted by just four people.
"Of course, it could be a victory or successful work of the Russian special services, who listened in on this conversation, which cannot be ruled out, but there is another version that I have heard here in Germany. It is that this is a 'leak' by the British and French as a revenge on Olaf Scholz for clearly saying in recent days that Germany will not interfere or go into a direct conflict with Russia, will not send its inspectors or its instructors to Ukraine to target the Taurus or other German missiles that could strike inside Russian territory," the analyst said.
NATO infighting
Rahr also said the leaked conversation could indicate infighting within Europe over Germany's position on the Ukrainian conflict. According to the analyst, Scholz, with his recent statements, has put an end to the possibility of any involvement of the German military in the conflict in Ukraine.
"This, of course, did not go well with the French and the British," Rahr continued. "All the more so because Olaf Scholz spilled the beans, as they say here, and gave away the secret that the British had sent their missile spotters to Ukraine a long time ago. Both the British and the French took offense at Scholz big time because of this: They say that such secrets should not be given away. So, there is infighting now inside NATO, a battle, finger-pointing, because both French President Emmanuel Macron and the British say that they are not against sending their people to Ukraine in in the event of a further Russian offensive against Kiev or Ukraine. So the situation is explosive."
The leaked recording
On March 1, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has published a transcript and then the audio recording of a conversation where high-ranking German military officers discuss asking UK for help in planning an attack on the Crimean bridge with Taurus missiles. They also said 100 of such missiles could be provided to Kiev.