Defense Minister Beit Higseth ordered the US Internet Command to stop the attacks against Russia, according to a current official and two former officials who have seen secret instructions. This step seems to be part of a wider effort to attract President Vladimir F. Putin from Russia to talks on Ukraine and a new relationship with the United States.
The instructions of Mr. Higseth, part of a larger reassessment of all operations against Russia. But they were issued to President Trump The general explosion in the Oval Office With President Voludmir Zelinski from Ukraine on Friday.
The exact range and the duration of the Ministry of Defense order are unclear, because the line between the attack and the defensive is often blurry.
However, maintaining access to the main Russian networks for espionage purposes is crucial to understanding the intentions of Mr. Putin as he enters negotiations, and follows the arguments inside Russia on the circumstances that must be insisted and what can be abandoned.
Former officials said it was common for civilian leaders to temporarily stop military operations during sensitive diplomatic negotiations, to avoid a decrease in their path. However, for President Trump and Mr. Higseth, the retreat of offensive electronic currencies against Russian goals is a huge gamble.
It mainly depends on Mr. Putin on the same response by giving up what many calls the “shadow war” against the United States and its traditional allies in Europe. The leading European powers are still saying Their support for Ukraine is not engraved Although Mr. Trump, who sought to portray himself as a neutral tight in seeking to end the war in Ukraine, he sometimes stood frankly with Mr. Putin.
US officials said Russia has continued to try to penetrate American networks, including in the first weeks of the Trump administration. But this is only part of a broader Russian campaign.
Over the past year, ransom attacks on American hospitals, infrastructure and cities have increased, as many from Russia were emitted while intelligence officials said they were to a large extent that have been punished, or ignored, by Russian intelligence agencies.
Variation efforts in Europe-in that, suspected Russian attempts to cut off cables, mysterious explosions, and Russian guided assassination plans, Including against the CEO of the largest arms maker in Germany – I accelerated last year. Even the United States, so far, has been central to helping European countries to return, and is often in the field of secret electronic, but this cooperation may now be in danger.
Many of these operations are depleted from the headquarters of government communications in Britain – the floors intelligence agency that broke the mystery symbols in World War II – and to some extent by Canada. They can continue this work, while the United States focuses on China, its most advanced opponent in cyberspace.
Russia also Running an aggressive impact campaign During the last presidential campaign, according to US intelligence agencies reports during the Biden administration. In recent elections, the American Internet Command conducted secret operations to occur or reduce those efforts.
But the Trump administration already has I started to dismantle The efforts made by the FBI and other agencies warning against Russian propaganda, and the Pentagon will stop at least at the present time, that is, other efforts in leading the Internet to boycott Russian influence campaigns in the future.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio described the urgency of transferring Russia to the negotiating table on Ukraine, even while admitting that it is unclear whether Mr. Putin is ready to conclude a deal.
“You will not bring them to the table if you call them names, if you are hostile,” Mr. Rubio said in this week. “This is just the president’s instincts of years, years and years of assembling deals as a working person.”
Mr. Rubio did not ask about the decision to stop the offensive electronic operation, but it grew defensive when he pressed the reason for leaving the United States to pressure Moscow, to the extent that the language is removed from United Nations Resolution Russia has described it as the aggressor in the war in Ukraine. Almost all traditional allies in the United States voted against the decision, leaving the Trump administration alongside Russia, North Korea, Iran, Belarusia and a handful of other authoritarian countries.
“If this was a democratic, he would do so, everyone will say, well, that he is on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize.” This is ridiculous. We are trying to end the war. You cannot end the war unless both sides come to the table, starting with the Russians, and this is the point that the president clarified. We have to do everything we can to try to bring them to the table to see if possible. “
An order from Mr. Higseth It was reported for the first time by the recordA publication of cybersecurity from the registered future, which tracks electronic operations. The Pentagon and the United States of America refused to comment on the registry, but a senior defense official, and he refused to allow its name to be used, that Mr. Higseth “has no priority” than the safety of military members, including in the Internet.
With the Trump administration’s willingness to take office, the Biden administration officials urged the departures assigned to Mr. Trump to maintain pressure on Russia, including by continuing to arm Ukraine and respond to GRU and SVR, the Russian intelligence agencies that were behind some of the most aggressive Russian forms.
They have seen Trump’s officials of the Russian efforts suspected of cutting the surface -to -sea communications cables, and The US effort last year to receive a message to Mr. Putin About the consequences if the efforts made to put explosives on shipping aircraft led to an air disaster. US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia’s ultimate goal is to send these packages to the United States.
During the first term of Mr. Trump, American internet operations against Russia rose. The National Security Agency established a “small group of Russia” after the Russian intervention in the 2017 elections
Mr. Trump gave the cyber leadership new powers during his first term to conduct offensive electronic funds without direct presidential approval in a secret document known as the National Security Presidency 13.
It was one of those operations a A effort to search for the electric power network in RussiaThe first time it was revealed from the New York Times, and it is likely to mean a warning to Russia not to interfere in the critical American infrastructure. Mr. Trump denounced that the report was a “virtual act of betrayal”, but his former aides later said that he was concerned that the revelation would affect his relationship with Mr. Putin.
