Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made a disturbing claim that Russia will know of any U.S. or western nations' military plans before they happen because someone is giving the Russian government inside information.
When asked about how Russia has managed to stay up-to-date on modern security challenges, Lavrov said Moscow would be well-informed in the event of any international attempts to undermine the country.
"Rest assured, we will be provided with information about the schemes harbored by the militaries of both the U.S. and other Western countries against the Russian Federation," Lavrov said, adding that Russia's global military presence was necessary to defend the country's interests, according to the state-run Tass Russian News Agency.
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After Russia's 2014 annexation of the former Ukrainian territory of Crimea, Congress passed a law prohibiting any formal ties between the U.S. and Russian armed forces. Despite Trump's efforts to secure a deal that would see Washington and Moscow work together to return refugees displaced by the Syrian conflict, an extension of this ban was included in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which is likely to be passed sometime this week, Politico reported.
Still, senior U.S. and Russian military officials have occasionally sat down together, including U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford and Russian military General Staff Chief General Valery Gerasimov. The State Department declined to comment on Lavrov's remarks when reached for comment by Newsweek, but the Pentagon said conversations between the heads of the U.S. and Russian militaries "have been ongoing for purposes of military deconfliction."
RUSSIA SAYS IT WILL KNOW OF U.S. MILITARY PLANS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN (Newsweek)