Britain will maintain its intelligence supply to Ukraine following the United States’ decision to halt such support this week, The Guardian reported.
“The UK will also continue to supply its analysis of the raw data,” sources told the newspaper on 6 March, though Britain will not share US information obtained through established intelligence-sharing arrangements.
Washington has suspended intelligence sharing with Kyiv, potentially undermining Ukraine’s military operations against Russian forces, the Financial Times reported on 5 March. The decision, alongside with the halt of the military aid, follows a significant breakdown in diplomatic relations between Trump and Zelenskyy after the meeting in the Oval Office on 28 Feb.
The Daily Mail previously reported that the US had also prohibited the United Kingdom from sharing Washington-obtained intelligence with Ukraine. However, Britain confirmed it would continue to share its own intelligence data.
“They are not as far reaching as US capabilities, not at the same scale and not able to take their place,” the source said. The intelligence will nonetheless enable Ukraine to maintain some early warning systems and deep strike capabilities into Russia.
France has also publicly committed to continuing intelligence support. Sébastien Lecornu, France’s armed forces minister, acknowledged the “significant operational impact” of the US decision but confirmed Paris would proceed with its “sovereign intelligence” assistance.
Lecornu suggested the UK’s situation was “more complicated” due to its closer intelligence ties with Washington. British sources, however, emphasized the “long history of competition as well as cooperation between the UK and US.”
The US intelligence freeze could leave Ukraine vulnerable. According to Dr. Jade McGlynn of King’s College London, the cutoff might make it easier for Russia to “move everything inside its borders near Kharkiv and attack again.”
Ukrainian defense expert Valerii Riabykh, editor of the Defence Express consulting firm, claimed the US decision jeopardized civilian safety. He specifically mentioned concerns about detecting incoming Iskander-M ballistic missiles and their North Korean equivalents.
Riabykh expressed confidence that the cutoff would not significantly impact the frontline situation. “We have our own intelligence officers, satellite services and agents in Russia. This is enough to strike stationary objects deep inside the Russian Federation,” he said.
The Institute for the Study of War warned the US decision “will damage Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against ongoing Russian attacks.” The organization cited successful Ukrainian strikes that would now be harder to execute, including a September 2024 bombing of an ammunition facility near Toropets that reportedly destroyed “two to three months of Russia’s ammunition supply.”
Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, said tha the US decision is politically motivated. Speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event, he compared it to “hitting a mule with a two by four across the nose. You get their attention.”
Kellogg characterized the move as a “forcing function” to push Ukraine toward “diplomatic activities” and develop “their term sheet” for negotiations.
Despite the tough meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy on 28 Feb. and the halt of military aid and intelligence sharing, US-Ukraine relations have reportedly improved, with delegations from both countries planning to meet in Saudi Arabia next week.
Read also:
- Ukraine loses access to vital Maxar satellite imagery, reports Militarnyi
- US intelligence sharing freeze deprives Ukraine of Russian strikes warning, NYT reports
- Russia carries out missile and drone attack on energy, gas infrastructure of Ukraine amid US-Ukraine negotiation efforts
