Russia claims German military leak proves Western involvement in Ukraine

Al Jazeera:

A wiretap recording of German military officials published over the weekend proves Western countries were participating in the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin has claimed.

The assertion was made by a spokesman on Monday, shortly after Moscow had reportedly summoned the German ambassador. The previous day, Berlin said that the release of the recording via social media was part of efforts to “destabilise” Germany.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the discussions among military officials of the potential use by Ukraine of German-made Taurus missiles to hit Russian targets, “once again highlight the direct involvement of the collective West in the conflict in Ukraine”.

Russian state-run agency RIA Novosti published a video of Germany’s envoy Alexander Graf Lambsdorff arriving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, declining to answer the questions of Russian journalists.

“The German ambassador … was summoned in connection with the publicised conversation of German officers about Crimea,” RIA said.

However, Berlin said that, contrary to reports by Russian state media, the envoy was not summoned.

“Our ambassador went to a long-planned meeting in the Russian foreign ministry (on Monday) morning,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.