NEW YORK, March 19. /TASS/. US agencies have suspended coordinated counterintelligence operations against Russia as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Reuters reports, citing former US security officials.
According to the news agency, the initiative to establish working groups to track the hybrid operations that the West ascribes to Russia, including sabotage, disinformation and cyberattacks, was developed under ex-US President Joe Biden. The project involved at least seven security agencies working with Washington’s European partners to disrupt plots allegedly targeting the US and Europe.
However, according to current and former US officials, most of this work has been suspended, meetings with European partners have become irregular and the White House National Security Council has stopped coordinating efforts with other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. According to the agency’s sources, the White House did not specify whether it will recreate the cross-agency working groups.
Russia’s position
When commenting on the issue, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that the Trump administration was trying to get rid of "everything ineffective, corrupt and implausible," which was "understandable." According to the Kremlin spokesman, Western accusations that Russia commits sabotage against the US and Europe are "empty and ephemeral" and have not been proven.