BERLIN: Germany sought on Tuesday (Mar 5) to downplay an audio leak of senior army personnel discussing the struggle in Ukraine, blaming “particular person error” and stressing that Berlin nonetheless had the belief of allies.
A 38-minute recording of the talks, during which the officers debated the attainable use of German-made Taurus missiles by Ukraine, was posted on Friday on Russian social media.
“A critical mistake occurred right here that ought to not have occurred,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius instructed a press convention.
The preliminary outcomes of a probe confirmed the German military’s “communications methods usually are not and weren’t compromised”, the minister mentioned.
“The explanation the cellphone name might nonetheless be recorded … is because of a person consumer error,” he mentioned.
Pistorius mentioned he had telephoned allies over the leak and was reassured that their “belief in Germany is unbroken”.
“Everybody is aware of concerning the hazard of such wiretapping assaults and is aware of that nobody can supply 100 per cent safety.”
Kyiv has been calling on Germany to offer it with Taurus missiles, which might attain targets as much as 500km away.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has nonetheless declined to approve the deliveries, fearing it might draw Germany into the struggle.
