Hanoi, Vietnam.— While the Joe Biden administration considers the damage minimal after the leak of highly classified documents related to the war in Ukraine and the United States’ views of its allies and partners, that assessment will face its first litmus test during the secretary’s meeting. of US State Antony Blinken in Japan with his counterparts from the seven countries that maintain the closest friendship with Washington.
The three days of talks between the Group of Seven foreign ministers, which begin on Sunday, could show whether the leaks damaged trust between the allies or whether it is just the latest embarrassing development for the United States, who in the last decade has dealt with the consequences of revealing overly sensitive secrets.
Blinken said Saturday that he had heard no expressions of concern among the allies; However, the revelations and the leaking arrest of a relatively low-level suspect will cast a shadow over the G7 meeting, the first international diplomatic conference since the documents were discovered online and made public.
“We have engaged with our allies and partners since the leaks were made, we have done so at high levels, and we have made clear our commitment to safeguarding intelligence information and our commitment to our security collaboration,” Blinken told reporters at Hanoi before leaving for Japan.
“What I have heard so far, if nothing else, is recognition of the measures we are taking and that our cooperation has not been affected,” he added. “I just haven’t seen or heard it. And of course, the investigation continues its course.
That argument could be wishful thinking, especially as the world processes the almost daily revelations of new leaks.
In addition to containing military analyzes of Ukraine’s capabilities and Russia’s losses, the leaked documents also expose Taiwan’s defense capability assessments and internal discussions in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan.
“As you know, there is an implicated person in custody, but the measures that are being adopted to increase the safeguarding of information are also important, I know,” Blinken said. “But to date, based on the conversations I’ve had, I haven’t heard anything that could affect our cooperation with allies and partners.”
Either way, the United States has had similar problems before, most notably when then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had to apologize for the numerous embarrassing revelations caused by WikiLeaks’ 2010 leaks of US diplomatic messages.
Clinton, in particular, said she was forced to explain the US position on Argentina, Israel, Italy and other allies after the fall of WikiLeaks.
On Friday, the man charged in the latest leak, Jack Teixeira, 21, of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, appeared in court as prosecutors unsealed the charges and disclosed how billing records and interviews with comrades from social media helped identify the suspect.
The classified documents that Teixeira allegedly posted on an online gaming platform have not been individually publicly authenticated by US authorities. But they seem authentic overall.
