Germany has sought to play down the leak of an audio recording of senior military officials discussing the war in Ukraine, blaming it on an individual error and stressing that Berlin still enjoys the trust of allies.
A 38-minute recording of a conversation in which the officers discussed the possible use of German-made Taurus missiles by Ukraine was posted online on March 1 on Russian social media.
"A serious mistake happened here that should not have happened," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at a press conference.
The initial results of the inspection show that "the communication systems of the German army are not and have not been compromised," the minister said.
"The reason why the phone call was still able to be recorded ... was due to individual user error," he said.
One of the participants, who had attended the Singapore air show, joined the meeting through an "unauthorized connection" that led to the interception, Pistorius said.
With several senior military officials from various countries attending the exhibition, the event was a "showcase" for Russian intelligence, he said.
He added that the hotels used by the participants would be subject to "large-scale wiretapping operations".
The successful interception of the call by the German military was therefore "a fluke within a broad approach", Pistorius said.
For now, "personal consequences are not on the agenda" after the leak, he said.
"I will not sacrifice my best officers for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's game."
Pistorius said he had called his allies about the leak and had been assured that their "trust in Germany is unwavering".
"Everyone knows the danger of such wiretapping and knows that no one can offer 100 percent protection."
Germany is under pressure to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine in response to urgent calls from Kyiv, copying France and Britain to send their own long-range weapons systems.
However, Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to approve the supply, fearing that it might draw Germany into the war. /BGNES
