Some National Security Operations to Counter Russian Sabotage Are Reportedly at a ‘Standstill’

A new report from Reuters claims that, under the Trump administration, a variety of U.S. national security operations designed to counter Russian aggression in Europe have been halted or slowed to a “standstill.” Those operations, many of which began under Biden, were aimed at countering Russian aggression on the West as retaliation for its support for Ukraine, the outlet writes.

Since the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022, Russia has targeted western and European countries that have gone against it in the conflict, the outlet writes. Those operations have often amounted to little more than violent thuggery, according to government sources:

Over the last three years, Russia has recruited criminals in European countries for sabotage operations across the continent – including arson, attempted assassinations and planting bombs on cargo aircraft. Russia has also used influence campaigns and cyber operations to erode support for Ukraine, Western intelligence officials told Reuters.

Prior to the current administration, the Biden White House put in motion a number of teams designed to counter these attacks, Reuters says. Seven different national security agencies worked together under the leadership of the National Security Council to counteract Russia’s aggression, according to sources interviewed by the outlet. U.S. national security agencies also increased their intelligence sharing with Europe, and created “task forces to combat Russian operations and ensure attacks did not occur in the U.S.” the outlet writes.

Now it would appear that many of those programs designed to counter Russia’s operations have been slowed way down. Reuters writes:

…since Trump took office on Jan. 20 much of the work has come to a standstill, according to eleven current and former officials, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss classified matters. Reuters is the first to report on the full extent of the Biden administration effort and how multiple different U.S. agencies have since paused their work on the issue.

Regular meetings between the National Security Council and European national security officials have gone unscheduled, and the NSC has also stopped formally coordinating efforts across U.S. agencies, including with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, the current and former officials said.

Gizmodo reached out to the White House for comment. Reuters notes that it is unclear why, exactly, the operations have slowed down:

Reuters could not determine whether the president has ordered the administration to halt all its work monitoring and combatting Russia’s campaign, whether agencies were still working to hire additional staff, or if they are making their own policy decisions independent of the White House.

The news follows on the heels of a report last month that stated the U.S.’s new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, had issued a “stand down” order on all offensive cyber operations aimed at Russia. The Pentagon subsequently denied this account, writing: “Secretary Hegseth has neither canceled nor delayed any cyber operations directed against malicious Russian targets and there has been no stand-down order whatsoever from that priority.”

However, other Russia-centered operations and programs also appear to have fallen by the wayside. The AP recently reported that the FBI has put staff on leave who were working to counter election interference operations aimed at the U.S., including those cultivated by Russia. The government also recently disbanded a task force aimed at punishing Russian oligarchs.