(The Guardian) Russia told Trump it isn't sharing US military asset intel with Iran, says Witkoff
Russia has denied sharing intelligence with Iran on US military assets in the Middle East, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has said today.
Speaking to CNBC, Witkoff said the denial came during a phone call that Donald Trump had with Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday, as well as in a separate call that he held earlier on Monday with Jared Kushner and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
Trump didn’t divulge any details about his call with Putin yesterday, saying only that it was “very good” and that the Russian president “wants to be helpful on Iran”. On the Russian side, Ushakov said the conversation was “frank” and “business-like”.
It follows reports on Friday that Moscow was providing Tehran with targeting information that included locations and movements of US warships and aircraft in the region. “Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Moscow had shared intelligence about the location of US military assets with Tehran.
He went on: “We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared and I had a call with Ushakov who reiterated the same.”
He added: “That’s a better question for the intel people, but let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”
Russia has denied sharing intelligence with Iran on US military assets in the Middle East, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has said today.
Speaking to CNBC, Witkoff said the denial came during a phone call that Donald Trump had with Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday, as well as in a separate call that he held earlier on Monday with Jared Kushner and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
Trump didn’t divulge any details about his call with Putin yesterday, saying only that it was “very good” and that the Russian president “wants to be helpful on Iran”. On the Russian side, Ushakov said the conversation was “frank” and “business-like”.
It follows reports on Friday that Moscow was providing Tehran with targeting information that included locations and movements of US warships and aircraft in the region. “Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Moscow had shared intelligence about the location of US military assets with Tehran.
He went on: “We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared and I had a call with Ushakov who reiterated the same.”
He added: “That’s a better question for the intel people, but let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”
