FRANKFURT
\nGermany is investigating an audio recording published in Russian media reported to be a conference call of high-ranking German military officials talking about weapons for Ukraine, sparking concerns of espionage in Germany and calls for clarification from Russia.
\nA German defense ministry spokesperson said on Saturday that it couldn\u2019t confirm the authenticity of the recording, but the Federal Office for Military Counterintelligence Service was investigating the matter and all necessary steps would be taken.
\nMargarita Simonyan, a Russian state TV journalist and the head of Russia Today, was the first to publish the audio on Friday, which was also posted on her Telegram channel.
\nReuters listened to the 38-minute recording but could not independently confirm its authenticity.
\nParticipants in the call discuss the possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz has publicly so far firmly rejected. They also talk about the training of Ukrainian soldiers, and possible military targets.
\nScholz, speaking on a visit to Rome, told journalists the potential leak was \u201cvery serious.\u201d
\n\u201cThat is why it is now being clarified very carefully, very intensively and very quickly. That is also necessary,\u201d he said.
\nRussia\u2019s embassy in Berlin didn\u2019t respond to an emailed request for comment on Saturday about allegations of possible spying. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on social media on Friday: \u201cWe demand an explanation from Germany.\u201d
\nRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to journalists on Saturday about \u201ccunning plans of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces), which became apparent due to the publication of this audio recording. This is a blatant self-exposure,\u201d Lavrov said.
\nRoderich Kiesewetter, a member of the German parliament, told the Handelsblatt newspaper that he considered the reports to be authentic.
\n\u201cRussia is of course showing how heavily it uses espionage and sabotage as part of the hybrid war. It is to be expected that much more was intercepted and leaked in order to influence decisions, discredit and manipulate people,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FRANKFURT Germany is investigating an audio recording published in Russian media reported to be a conference call of high-ranking German military officials talking about weapons for Ukraine, sparking concerns of espionage in Germany and calls for clarification from Russia. A German defense ministry spokesperson said on Saturday that it couldn\u2019t confirm the authenticity of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-391085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n