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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. spies have caught Russian intelligence officials boasting that they had persuaded the oil-rich United Arab Emirates to “cooperate with U.S. and British intelligence agencies,” according to a U.S. document purportedly posted online. US major intelligence leak.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the document, which is notoriously classified as top secret and was viewed by The Associated Press. On Monday, the UAE government dismissed any allegations that the UAE had deepened ties with Russian intelligence, saying it was “completely false”.
But the United States is increasingly concerned UAE allows Russia and Russians to thwart sanctions imposed on the invasion of Ukraine.
Documents seen by The Associated Press include an item citing the March 9 study titled: “Russia/UAE: Deepening intelligence ties.” U.S. officials declined to confirm the authenticity of the document, which The Associated Press could not independently confirm. However, it is similar to other documents released as part of the recent leak.
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the Pentagon Papers that may have been posted on several social media sites. They appeared to detail U.S. and NATO aid to Ukraine, as well as U.S. intelligence assessments of U.S. allies that may have strained relations with those countries.
Some of the documents may have been altered or used as part of a misinformation campaign, U.S. officials said. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby urged caution on Monday “because we know at least in some cases that information has been tampered with.”
Regarding the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, documents seen by the Associated Press said: “In mid-January, FSB officials claimed that UAE security service officials and Russia had agreed to cooperate against US and British intelligence agencies, allegedly newly acquired signals intelligence. “Signals intelligence refers to intercepted communications, whether phone calls or electronic messages.
“UAE may see contacts with Russian intelligence as an opportunity Strengthening growing ties between Abu Dhabi and Moscow and diversify intelligence partnerships amid concerns about U.S. disengagement from the region,” the assessment concluded, referring to the UAE capital.
It is unclear whether any such agreement exists in the UAE-Russia document, or whether the alleged FSB statement was intentionally or unintentionally misleading.
But U.S. officials have increasingly spoken of a surge in deals between the UAE and Russia.
Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Rosenberg, a U.S. Treasury Department official, named the UAE a “priority country” in March. Companies there, she said, are helping Russia evade international sanctions for more than $5 million worth of U.S. semiconductors and other export-controlled components, including for the battlefield.
In recent years, U.S. intelligence officials have pointed to possible links between the UAE and the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary group with close ties to the Kremlin and active in Ukraine and several African countries. In 2020, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessed that “the United Arab Emirates may provide some funding for the group’s operations.”
Andreas Krieger, an associate professor at King’s College London, called the UAE “Russia’s most important strategic partner in the Middle East and Africa” on Monday. In 2020, Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, held extensive talks with UAE leaders in Dubai.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press separately that the U.S. is also concerned Russian money enters Dubai’s red-hot real estate market.
In October, federal prosecutors in New York announced charges against two Russian men living in Dubai and others accused of stealing military technology from U.S. companies, smuggling millions of barrels of oil and arguing for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The oligarchs laundered tens of millions of dollars.
In that case, prosecutors cited a Russian national living in Dubai who assured his partners that they were “not worried” about using UAE financial institutions for transactions. “This is the (worst) bank in the UAE,” he said in expletives. “They pay for everything.”
The United Arab Emirates issued a statement to The Associated Press on Monday about the apparent intelligence document, saying Emirati officials had not seen the document and that claims about the FSB were “absolutely false.”
“We refute any allegation that there is an agreement between the UAE and other national security services to deepen cooperation against another country,” the statement said. “The UAE has deep and distinguished relationships with all principles of building bridges and working to serve the common interests of nations and peoples in order to achieve international peace and security.”
The alleged leak of the documents comes as Emirati officials recalibrate their foreign policy in the Middle East following a series of attacks attributed to Iran. In 2022, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have attacked Abu Dhabi, killing three people and prompting U.S. troops stationed there to respond with Patriot missile fire.
Since then, the UAE has reached a détente with Iran as it realizes that the U.S. presence in the region has weakened following a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Even the United States maintains several military bases in the region and deploys thousands of troops and equipment, including the Al Dhafra air base in Abu Dhabi.Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port remains the busiest U.S. Navy port of call outside the continental U.S.
After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the UAE remains one of the few places that still operates daily direct flights to Moscow. That has seen money, superyachts and Russian citizens flow into the UAE, the autocratic federation of seven emirates on the Arabian Peninsula. It’s not a complete hug, however.
Relations between the U.S. and the UAE have flipped over the past decade as Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan consolidated his power. impermanence. Under the Trump administration, the UAE has diplomatically recognized Israel.
Following the deal, the UAE sought but has yet to receive the advanced U.S. F-35 fighter jets under President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, the UAE has criticized the escalation of violence between Israel’s right-wing government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinians.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP Diplomacy Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
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