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Europeans supply two-thirds of Ukraine's intelligence, says France's Barrot
The French foreign minister would not say whether the US had cut intelligence sharing with Kyiv, as Ukrainian sources said military Starshield links were working again.
Key points
- Jean-Noel Barrot said two-thirds of intelligence given to Ukraine comes from Europeans.
- He neither confirmed nor denied that the US had reduced its intelligence sharing.
- Ukrainian defence sources said Starshield links resumed on 15 October.
Europe, not the United States, now provides most of the intelligence Ukraine receives from its partners, France’s foreign minister said on Thursday, as Kyiv worries about cuts in American help.
“Let me remind you that two-thirds of the intelligence provided to Ukraine today comes from Europeans, including France,” Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio.
Pressed on whether Washington had reduced or stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv, Barrot gave no direct answer. Nor would he say whether he shared President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s view that Ukraine had been betrayed by Donald Trump. He noted that Zelenskyy had criticised Europeans too, and said: “Volodymyr Zelensky has also expressed his desire to continue cooperating with the United States.”
On Starlink, Barrot said “there is information in the public domain that appears to indicate a reduction in Starlink’s operating speed.” He pointed out that Elon Musk had placed responsibility for limits on Starshield, the military version of the service, on the US government.
Ukrainian units lost the use of Starlink terminals on the move overnight on 14 October without warning. Sources in Ukraine’s defence ministry were reported as saying that Starshield’s in-motion service came back on 15 October, while the reasons for the cut were still being looked into with partners.
Barrot said the Kremlin was using the episode to wear down Ukrainian morale and split its backers. “We are waging a war on the battlefield, but also in people’s minds,” he said. He also pointed to joint work with Ukraine on interceptor missiles that are “significantly cheaper and much faster to produce” than those available until now.