USA stops sharing intelligence data on Ukraine-Russia talks – media
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, issued a directive weeks ago to the U.S. intelligence community ordering that all information regarding the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations not be shared with U.S.-allied intelligence partners, CBS News reported.
According to the sources, the memo, dated July 20 and signed by Gabbard, directed agencies to not share information with the so-called Five Eyes, the post-World War II intelligence alliance comprising the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The officials said the directive classified all analysis and information related to the volatile Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations as "NOFORN," or no foreign dissemination, meaning the information could not be shared with any other country or foreign nationals.
This means that it is impossible to transfer information to other countries or foreign citizens. Only information that has already been published before can be distributed.
The memo also limited distribution of material regarding peace talks to within the agencies that created or originated the intelligence.
At the same time, the memo does not seem to prevent the sharing of diplomatic information gathered by other means separate from the U.S. intelligence community, or military operational information unrelated to the talks — such as the details the U.S. shares with the Ukrainian military to aid in their defensive operations.
"Among the reasons for that sort of default is the expectation that we and the other four are all sitting on the same side of the table with some other adversary on the other side," explained Steven Cash, a former intelligence officer at the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Homeland Security.
He added that it's important for the allies to have "a common intelligence picture" so policymakers and negotiators "can coordinate our positions and get the best deal we can, or fight the best war we can."