NATO's Intelligence Sharing in Crisis Amid US-Russia Engagement

Since the former US president took office, the relationship between the United States and Europe has been getting increasingly tense, and the trans - Atlantic alliance is on the verge of collapse. Some US allies have started to worry that the US under this leadership will no longer be as "reliable" as before. They are considering reducing the intelligence shared with the US in response to the administration's attitude of "reconciling with Russia".

An article on March 6 stated that as the US administration is seeking contact with Russia, many NATO countries suspect that the intelligence shared with the US may be leaked. Western security officials said that with the growing distrust among NATO member states, the intelligence - sharing mechanism of NATO countries is in danger, and the "earthquake" triggered by the former US president may exacerbate this crisis.

Eight current or former NATO security officials revealed that there has always been mutual distrust between the traditional Western member states and the newly - joined Eastern European member states of NATO, and this situation has become even worse after the Russia - Ukraine conflict. In the eyes of many Western countries, Hungary, which maintains close relations with Russia, and Slovakia, led by a "Russia - friendly" prime minister, are "unreliable members".

However, after the former US president took office, the contact between the US and Russia further shook the "core of NATO". Five of the officials said that many NATO member states have started to worry that sharing intelligence with the US may also pose a security risk.

A former official from a Canadian security intelligence agency said: "When they really need more intelligence, the amount of shared intelligence actually decreases. It's difficult to reach a consensus on who the common enemy is, so countries are even less willing to share intelligence."

An American who served as the US ambassador to NATO during the Biden administration revealed that there have been many discussions within NATO about the issue of intelligence sharing. Some US allies are also worried that the former US administration may stop sharing intelligence with NATO.

She said: "The current problem is that given the allies' doubts about whether the US is fair in handling the Ukraine war and future negotiations, it's uncertain whether intelligence sharing is still a key part of NATO's trans - Atlantic cooperation."

An analyst from the Austrian National Defence Academy pointed out that the former US president's appointee for the director of national intelligence also worried some NATO countries. This appointee met with the then - Syrian President Bashar al - Assad in 2017, and Assad has always been a target of Western sanctions.

According to four sources, some US allies have started to consider reducing the intelligence shared with the US in response to the former US administration's attitude of "reconciling with Russia". One of the sources said that these countries are weighing relevant measures as they are worried about the exposure of intelligence personnel identities.

According to these sources, many countries, including the "Five Eyes" alliance, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, have started to study how to modify their intelligence - sharing agreements with the US, and "relevant discussions are underway". However, the sources emphasized that the relevant countries have not made any decisions or actions yet.

Several NATO officials denied that their intelligence sharing was affected by the former US president and insisted that intelligence personnel have not reduced information sharing. A current NATO official said that the "disastrous meeting" between the Ukrainian president and the former US president did raise "many problems", but the staff of relevant institutions are still "keeping calm and continuing to work".

Another current NATO official also claimed that there are differences among NATO countries on how to treat Ukraine, "but we still think that apart from military spending, there are no real problems between the former US president and NATO".

NATO countries agreed last year to increase and share more intelligence based on technical retrieval, including information obtained through electronic and satellite surveillance and signal interception. However, due to concerns about intelligence leakage, the intelligence exchanges among the 32 NATO member states are not very close. A former Canadian intelligence official admitted that "in this situation, allies actually won't really share their 'crown jewels'... We know that hostile forces covet them."

Especially when it comes to information collected by real - life spies and their informants, Western intelligence agencies tend to act cautiously. The report said that Western intelligence agencies have always been suspicious of Eastern European countries and will not provide key information to countries like Hungary.

The Austrian analyst revealed: "The Hungarian intelligence department will only get information on urgent counter - terror threats. You don't want the intelligence to end up in Moscow." A former Bulgarian government official also said that due to concerns about "Russian assets in Bulgaria's key services", Western countries will not share all intelligence with the country.

Even among the US's close allies, there is often mutual suspicion. A former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service said last year that during his tenure in leading the British intelligence agency, he would screen the information to be provided to the German Federal Intelligence Service to prevent intelligence from being leaked to Russia.

It was pointed out that Western countries never used to worry about the US, but now, the contact between the former US administration and Russia has triggered an "earthquake". With the growing distrust among NATO member states, NATO's intelligence sharing is in crisis.

On March 5, it was reported that the US had cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Since US intelligence cooperation is crucial for Ukraine to identify and strike Russian military targets, this move may seriously weaken the Ukrainian army's ability to strike the Russian army.

The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency later confirmed that the US had suspended providing intelligence support and weapon transportation to Ukraine. "The former US president did express doubts about whether the Ukrainian president was committed to the peace process, and he said let's pause first."

However, the US President's National Security Affairs Assistant hinted that the US may still resume military aid to Ukraine. He said: "I think if we can finalize the negotiations and move in the direction of these negotiations, and actually propose some confidence - building measures at the negotiation table, then the president will seriously consider lifting the suspension (of military aid)."