Page:ISC Russia Report.pdf/44



125.The Intelligence Community must equip themselves to tackle the Russian threat, but we must also look beyond the UK itself. The Kremlin has shown a willingness and ability to operate globally to undermine the West, seeking out division and intimidating those who appear isolated from the international community. The West is strongest when acting in coalition, and therefore the Agencies and Defence Intelligence have a role to play in encouraging their international partners to draw together.

126.In responding to the Russian threat, the UK's long-standing partnership with the US is important. It is clear that this partnership provides valuable capabilities that *** to the UK, and avoids the duplication of coverage through effective burden-sharing. However, there remains a question as to whether ***. This is important given the relative priority of work on Russia among the Five Eyes partnership.

127.The Agencies and Defence Intelligence are increasingly working with *** on the Russian threat. Their perspectives are particularly useful: whilst UK and Western resources were diverted towards the threat from international terrorism in the early 2000s, ***. As well as providing a wealth of *** intelligence on Russia, they also share the UK's approach to the Russian threat, and have been willing to stand alongside the UK in taking an increasingly assertive approach to Russian activities.

128.Others do not share the UK's concerns about Russia – or even if they do they are not willing to take such an assertive approach towards Russia's malign activities. Whilst there appear to be increasing signs that others in Europe are taking the threat from Russia more seriously *** there has clearly been less success in translating this into building public support for the UK's diplomatic approach to attribution and condemnation of Russia's cyber activities. In particular, we note that France does not appear to have publicly condemned Russian cyber activities, and it has been widely reported that other European governments, such as Austria and Italy, have appeared publicly to move closer to the Kremlin in the last few years. We also note reporting that Israel *** has welcomed Russian oligarchs and their investment, and has thus far been unwilling to challenge the Kremlin openly.

129.NATO remains at the heart of strategic thought: the Kremlin considers that any further enlargement of NATO would constitute a breach of the 1997 NATO–Russia Founding Act, and an unacceptable encroachment into its perceived 'sphere of influence'. Diminishing the strength of NATO is therefore a key aim of the Kremlin, as is undermining the credibility of Article V of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, and "delivering NATO and non-NATO deterrence" therefore forms a key part of the 2019 cross-Whitehall Russia Strategy.

130.We are encouraged to note that Defence Intelligence shares its intelligence assessments with NATO, which we were told aim to try "to ensure as common an understanding of the nature of the Russian threat and situation that we face". Defence Intelligence highlighted several "really important part[s] of how we feed into the NATO