The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered the United States cyber command to stop offensive cyber operations and information operations against Russia, said an American official familiar with the matter.
Hegesh gave the order to the head of the command, General Tim Haugh, at the end of February, said the official. It is not clear how long the order will last.
A senior defense officer of the United States declined to comment on the decision “due to operational security concerns.”
“There is no higher priority for the Secretary Hegseth than the security of the warrior in all operations, to include cyber domain,” the official told NBC News.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the United States, which is in the Department of National Security, said in a statement that “the mission is to defend itself from all cyber threats for the critical infrastructure of the United States, even Russia. There has been no change in our position.”
The representatives of the Cyber Us command did not immediately respond to the request for comments of NBC News. The Russian embassy also immediately responded to a request for comments.
Hegesh’s order was first informed by registration.
President Donald Trump has tried to restore diplomatic channels with Russia in recent days, even when the embassy staff restores, while his administration works to quickly end the war in Ukraine. American officials began peace conversations with Russian negotiators earlier this month in Saudi Arabia.
Trump’s relationship with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reached a dead point on Friday after an Oval office clash between Trump, Zelenskyy and vice president JD Vance. Trump after the meeting rebuked Zelenskyy for his persistent criticism of Putin.
“You have to say, I want to make peace,” Trump said before starting from the White House on Friday. “He doesn’t have to stand there and say about ‘Putin this, Putin that’, all negative things. He has to say, I want to make peace. I no longer want to fight for a war.”
The breakdown of the meeting delayed the signing of an agreement that would have granted to the United States an important participation of property in the rare minerals of Ukraine, which are used to create a variety of technological products.
The leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., described on Sunday the decision of the administration to stop the offensive cyber operations against Russia a Trump offer to win Putin’s favor.
“Donald Trump is so desperate to gain the affection of a thug like Vladimir Putin that seems to be giving him a free pass as Russia continues to launch cybernetic operations and ransomware attacks against critical American infrastructure, threatening our economic and national security,” Schumer said. “It is a critical strategic error for Donald Trump to unilaterally disarm against Putin.”
The Trump administration policy change occurs after the administration Biden last year talked to Russia “a lasting global cyber threat,” pointing out the orientation of government agencies of the United States, the Think Tanks, energy and aviation by the Russian foreign intelligence service.
“Moscow considers cyber interruptions as a foreign policy lever to shape the decisions of other countries and refines and continuously uses its abilities of espionage, influence and attack on a variety of objectives,” said the office of the National Intelligence Director in its evaluation of threats of 2024 as in allied and associated countries. “
The intelligence evaluation of the United States declared that Russia continues to represent a global cyber threat “even when prioritizing cyber operations for Ukrainian war.”
Microsoft in November said that Russia had recently intensified its cyber operations, mainly aimed at the countries of Ukraine and NATO.
“Russian threat actors have focused on accessing and stealing intelligence from Ukrainian warriors and international partners who supply them weapons. The techniques used have the potential to cause involuntary damage by raising the risk of computer networks worldwide,” said their 2024 digital defense report.
The report also highlighted the Russian cyber operations aimed at influencing the presidential elections of 2024, an effort that resulted in sanctions of the Biden Administration.
