Russia furious over recently revealed G20 summit spying
June 17, 2013
The intelligence services of the United States have been subject to intense public scrutiny in recent weeks, as a result of leaked information from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. The leaker, now presumed to be in hiding in Hong Kong, compounded those revelations by releasing new documentation to The Guardian about spying operations conducted by British and American intelligence that targeted representatives of Turkey and Russia during the 2009 G20 summit in London, England. Russia has publicly expressed its displeasure over these revelations, according to the paper. Individuals all over the world are likely to be discussing this matter in calls conducted with the use of a prepaid phone card.
Russian senator Igor Morozov spoke out angrily about this matter, particularly in light of the G8 summit currently taking place in Northern Ireland.
"In this situation, how can we trust today's announcement's by Barack Obama that he wants a new 'reset'?" Morozov said, according to the Guardian. "Won't the U.S. special services now start spying on Vladimir Putin, rather than correcting their actions? This isn't just an act of inhospitality, but a fact that can seriously complicate international relations."
The 2009 spying operation involved surveillance on Russia's current prime minister, and former president, Dmitry Medvedev. As yet, neither Medvedev or any official representative of his office have has commented on the matter. However, Putin's largely dubious views of the United States could indicate that this incident will further sour relations between the two world powers at an extremely inopportune time.
According to The New York Times, British and American officials at the G20 conference where the spying occurred were essentially updated in real time about their surveillance targets' actions and plans. Richard J. Aldrich, an intelligence operations scholar and professor of international security at the University of Warwick, summed up the operation to the news source. "Now this is integrated into summit diplomacy, almost like a newsreader getting a feed in their ear," he said.