I won't fall into Putin's trap – German Defence Minister on leaked Taurus conversation

Boris Pistorius, the German Minister of Defence, has stated that he will not dismiss "his best officers", regardless of whether they made a mistake, amid the scandal involving the interception and leaking of conversations regarding the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine.

According to dpa, on 11 March, the minister met with the leading officers of the Bundeswehr after a special meeting on defence matters. 

On Monday, Pistorius stated that Inspector of the Air Force Ingo Gerhartz was the second of four officers who joined the conference call using unsecured communications.

However, it would be premature to discuss further consequences as an investigation is still ongoing, Pistorius said. 

At the same time, the German defence minister emphasised, "I don't want to... fall into [Putin's – ed.] trap and dismiss my best officers, regardless of whether they made a mistake or not." He said that causing such a dismissal was Putin’s goal.

Earlier, Pistorius said that the interception of classified information on the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine occurred because one of the Bundeswehr officers joined the conversation via an unprotected line from a hotel room in Singapore.

The Federal Ministry of Defence of Germany initiated an investigation into whether the conversations of representatives of its Air Force – who, according to Russian propaganda, allegedly discussed blowing up the Crimean (Kerch) Bridge with Taurus missiles – were intercepted.

Later, the Defence Ministry confirmed the interception of the conversation. Pistorius commented on the scandal, stating that it was a disinformation attack conducted in the context of Russia’s "hybrid warfare" efforts.