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UK Spy Chief Sees Russia’s Military Running ‘Out of Steam’ Soon
MI6 head Richard Moore sees no sign Putin is in poor health Big advantage of US, UK over China is ‘we have allies’
Iain Marlow
July 22, 2022, 1:03 AM GMT+8
Richard Moore
Photographer: Stefan Rousseau/PA Images/Getty Images
The head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service says Russia’s war effort in Ukraine is faltering and President Vladimir Putin will be forced to temporarily halt his invasion, potentially allowing Ukrainian troops a greater opportunity to strike back.
“They’re about to run out of steam,” Richard Moore, the head of MI6, said at the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday in a rare public appearance outside his nation.
“Our assessment is the Russians will increasingly find it difficult to find manpower, materiel over the next few weeks,” Moore said. “They will have to pause in some way, and that will give the Ukrainians opportunities to strike back.”
Asked about rumors that Putin is ailing, Moore said there was “no evidence” that the Russian leader was “suffering from serious ill health.” He said Russian intelligence agents clearly underestimated Ukrainian nationalism and defense capabilities, and were probably afraid to “speak truth to power” up the chain of command given Putin’s desire for an invasion.
Moore’s remarks came at the Aspen Security Forum, an annual gathering of foreign policy experts and White House officials that has been dominated by discussions about Russia’s invasion and the risks of China’s rise. Moore emphasized US-UK cooperation on intelligence-sharing, a day after CIA Director Bill Burns called Moore an “exceptional friend.”
Iran Deal
The UK spy chief was nevertheless pessimistic about the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal abandoned by former President Donald Trump.
Although Moore said he thought reviving the agreement would be the best way to constrain Iran’s nuclear activities, he said it wasn’t likely that the Islamic nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was interested.
“I’m not convinced we’re going to get there,” Moore said of efforts to sign a new version of the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “I don’t think the Supreme Leader of Iran wants to cut a deal.”
China Risk
Turning to another global hot spot, Moore said MI6 is now devoting more resources to China -- which he said poses a clear threat to Western governments and societies -- than to any other single subject within the service, saying it had just moved past counterterrorism in terms of importance.
“It reflects the seriousness of the mission for us,” Moore said. “We shouldn’t be naive about what the Chinese are trying to do to our societies.”
While Moore said China has a huge number of spies, with hundreds of thousands of civilian intelligence officers in addition to its military intelligence, he said that the “Five Eyes” bloc of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand still has an edge.
“We have this huge advantage that the Chinese don’t: We have friends, we have allies,” he said.
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