Trump claims no 'credible' intel Russia offered Taliban bounty payments to kill Americans, despite reports
President Donald Trump said that U.S. intelligence officials had"just" told him there was no credible information suggesting Russian intelligence had offered to pay bounties to Taliban militants who killed American soldiers.
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a senior figure inside the Kremlin, denied Russian intelligence officers had offered these bounties. Peskov also said that he was unaware of any conversations between the U.S. and Russian militaries because"they have their own dialogue system" that contained"restricted information."
NBC News' sources were not able to make it clear how persuasive the intelligence is. A source told the Times that the assessment was based in part on interviews with Afghan detainees. That alone would not prove the case, but the U.S. would almost certainly have tried to get communications intercepts from the Russians that shed light. In the past, the National Security Agency has had success penetrating Russia's military intelligence unit, the GRU.
"The president will not confront the Russians on this score, denies being briefed," she said."Whether he is or not, his administration knows, and our allies — some of our allies who work with us in Afghanistan — had been briefed and accept this report."
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