U.S. halts intelligence sharing on Russia-Ukraine peace talks with partners

CBS News reports, citing several American intelligence officials.

It is stated that Gabbard signed the directive back on July 20, ordering not to share information on peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine with the Five Eyes alliance — an intelligence partnership formed after World War II that includes the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Intelligence officials said the directive classified all analytical data and information related to peace talks as “NOFORN,” meaning prohibited from being shared abroad. This means that the information cannot be shared with any other country or foreign nationals. The directive also restricts the distribution of materials related to peace talks to those agencies that prepared or received them. Only information that has been previously made public can be shared.

At the same time, the document probably does not prohibit the exchange of diplomatic information gathered by means other than the U.S. intelligence community, or military operational information not related to the negotiations.

• On August 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House, where he was welcomed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The leaders first held a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, after which they met with European leaders and the NATO Secretary General. The talks then continued in a different format.
• Following the talks, Trump announced that he had begun preparations for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.