CBS News reports that US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has banned the US intelligence community from sharing any information about the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine with US intelligence agencies.
The memorandum, dated July 20 and signed by Gabbard, obliges agencies not to share data with the so-called “Five Eyes” alliance (a post-war intelligence alliance that includes the US, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), several US intelligence officials told CBS News.
The officials noted that the directive classified all analysis and information related to the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine as “NOFORN” (not for foreigners), meaning that the data cannot be shared with any other country or foreign person. The only information that can be shared is that which is already publicly available. The memorandum also limited the circulation of materials about the negotiations, even within the United States, to those agencies that collected or prepared the data.
At the same time, the memorandum does not seem to prohibit the exchange of diplomatic information if it was obtained through other channels and is not related to intelligence agencies, as well as the transfer of military data that is not associated with the negotiations: for example, the details that the United States continues to provide to the Ukrainian army to support defensive operations.
