Intelligence UK and France to continue to share data with Ukraine

Britain will continue to supply intelligence to Ukraine, though the more limited capabilities on offer from London and other European countries will make it difficult to replace the flow halted from the US this week.

- Dan Sabbagh Luke Harding Kyiv

The UK will also continue to supply its analysis of the raw data, sources said yesterday, though in line with normal intelligence practice it will not simply pass on US information obtained via long-established sharing arrangements between the two countries.

"They are not as far reaching as US capabilities, not at the same scale and not able to take their place," a former Whitehall insider said. But they will allow Ukraine to maintain some early warning from attack and a degree of deep-strike capability into Russia.

Reconnaissance data collected from satellites, ground stations, surveillance aircraft such as Rivet Joint, and even covertly deployed ground forces is accumulated and shared with Ukraine in conjunction with open-source material to enable damaging deep-strikes by missile and drone into Russia.

France also said publicly that it would continue to provide intelligence to Ukraine. Sébastien Lecornu, the country's armed forces minister, said that while the US decision would have a "significant operational impact" Paris would continue to help with its "sovereign intelligence".

The French minister said the UK's position was "more complicated" because its intelligence apparatus was more closely bound up with Washington - though British sources emphasised there had been a long history of competition as well as cooperation between the UK and US.