Russia spent $US300 million to covertly influence world politics, says US

Washington: Russia has covertly spent more than $US300 million ($445 million) since 2014 to try to influence politicians and other officials in more than two dozen countries, the State Department alleges in a newly released cable.

The cable, signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and released on Tuesday, cites a new intelligence assessment of Russia’s global covert efforts to support policies and parties sympathetic to Moscow. The cable does not name specific Russian targets but says the US is providing classified information to select individual countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin.Credit: AP

It’s the latest effort by the Biden administration to declassify intelligence about Moscow’s military and political aims, dating back to ultimately correct assessments that Russia would launch a new war against Ukraine. Many of President Joe Biden’s top national security officials have extensive experience countering Moscow and served in government when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched wide-ranging campaigns to influence the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.

A senior administration official declined to say how much money Russia is believed to have spent in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top deputies have long accused Putin of meddling in domestic politics. The official noted allegations of Russian influence in recent elections in Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro, all once part of the former Soviet Union.

Unlike declared efforts by foreign governments to lobby for preferred initiatives, Russia’s covert influence involved using front organisations to funnel money to preferred causes or politicians, the cable alleges. That includes think tanks in Europe and state-owned enterprises in Central America, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

The US has in its history also covertly funded political groups and been responsible for efforts to topple or undermine foreign governments. The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under rules set by the administration, rejected comparisons between Russia’s activities and current US financing of media and political initiatives.

Putin was spending huge sums “in an attempt to manipulate democracies from the inside,” the official said.

Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The State Department took the unusual step of releasing a diplomatic cable that was sent on Monday to many US embassies and consulates abroad, many of them in Europe, Africa and South Asia, laying out the concerns.

The cable, which was marked “sensitive” and not intended for foreign audiences but was not classified, contained a series of talking points that US diplomats were instructed to raise with their host governments regarding alleged Russian interference. Among steps diplomats were told to recommend include sanctions, travel bans, and exposure of covert financing.

According to the cable, intelligence officials believe Russia planned to transfer “at least hundreds of millions more” dollars in funding to sympathetic parties and officials around the world.

The cable does not say how intelligence officials came up with the total figure of $US300 million. It also does not address concerns that Russia or other adversaries may again try to interfere in US politics.

The official briefing reporters noted that Biden had recently extended a national emergency declaration addressing the continued threat of foreign election interference.

“We’re promoting co-ordination with our democratic peers,” the official said. “And we’ll be exchanging lessons learned, all to advance our collective election security, but also our election security here at home.”

The Washington DC-based Alliance for Securing Democracy compiled a similar report in 2020, concluding authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China have spent more than $US300 million “interfering in democratic processes more than 100 times in 33 countries over the past decade, mostly since 2014”.

Commenting on the US government’s number, the ASD’s Josh Rudolph said: “Of the $US300 million that we documented, $US245 million was from Russia. That was two years ago and the intelligence community presumably draws from non-public sources, so I’m not at all surprised that they find $300 million from Russia alone.”

AP with The Age and the Herald

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.