The US State Department has issued warnings to Russia that there will be repercussions if Moscow pays rewards to the Taliban for successfully killing US soldiers, according to two senior US officials and one other person with knowledge of the matter.
The warnings were issued through the department’s diplomatic channels after public news reports in June that the United States had gathered information on Russian rewards, those officials said. An official described the communications as “serious”. Another said that Moscow responded by denying reports that it had established or financed a rewards program to kill US troops.
These secret warnings contrast with what President Trump has said about the intelligence in question. In an interview earlier this week, Trump said he did not think it was worth increasing the rewards in a recent conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. “That was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly, that’s an issue that a lot of people said was fake news,” Trump said in a recent interview.
the New York Times He reported on June 26 that Russia had covertly offered cash to the Taliban in exchange for killing US and coalition troops in Afghanistan, and that intelligence had been included in a daily presidential news package in February. White House officials have consistently said that the reward intelligence has not been “verified.” Officials previously told The Daily Beast that they had disagreed in the intelligence and national security communities about the intelligence and the methods used to collect it.
Several US officials, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and General Mark Milley, have publicly disputed the reports. At a congressional hearing on July 9, Esper said the United States had no evidence to suggest that there were direct links between the Russian rewards and the Americans who were killed in the field.
The warnings to the Russians highlight the seriousness with which Trump administration officials have responded to reports of the rewards. They also raise questions about how far officials’ understanding of the validity of reward intelligence differs from that of President Donald Trump.
It is unclear to what extent, if any, the President has been informed of these warnings. The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately comment to The Daily Beast. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment in the registry. Pompeo recently said during a Fox News interview that the U.S. “Respond to any threat, whether the Iranians use the Taliban or the Russians, “he said.” We’ll make sure they know. ”
In his interview with Axios this week, Trump insisted that intelligence “never came to my desk,” although it has been widely reported that the information had been included in the President’s Daily Report.
During that interview, when Trump was asked about Russia’s efforts over the years to provide arms to the Taliban forces, the President replied, “Well, we also supplied weapons when they were fighting Russia.” The Taliban in Afghanistan … I’m just saying we did it too. “
U.S. representatives are currently in Vienna, Austria, meeting with Russians on gun control, an area that national security officials say could be a path to cooperation, although Russia recently launched an anti-satellite weapon into space. . According to interviews with three former officials, previous efforts to cooperate with Russia have failed, including the counter-terrorism intelligence exchange, and participating in talks in space could be beneficial in safeguarding American interests there.
But several current and former senior officials say they are unsure if there is any problem the US can cooperate with Russia, given recent attempts by a Moscow-linked group to hack research on the coronavirus vaccine. from the USA and the country that spreads disinformation about the coronavurs.
At a hearing last week in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Deputy Secretary of State Department Biegun said that years of malicious action by the Russians “have made it virtually impossible to move forward … in any way, shape or form.” .
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