Russia’s current struggle with the West over the latter’s support for Ukrainian independence is being fought on many fronts, including in cyberspace, where Moscow’s activities have been directed against Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S.
The idea that Vladimir Putin would be impressed by a unilateral cease-fire by the U.S. in this area is laughable, and yet such a cease-fire seems to be what has happened.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to halt offensive operations against Russia, according to a current official and two former officials briefed on the secret instructions. The move is apparently part of a broader effort to draw President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia into talks on Ukraine and a new relationship with the United States.
Mr. Hegseth’s instructions, part of a larger re-evaluation of all operations against Russia, have not been publicly explained. But they were issued before President Trump’s public blowup in the Oval Office with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday. . . .
U.S. officials have said Russia has continued to try to penetrate U.S. networks, including in the first weeks of the Trump administration. But that is only part of a broader Russian campaign.
Over the past year, ransomware attacks on American hospitals, infrastructure and cities have ramped up, many emanating from Russia in what intelligence officials have said are largely criminal acts that have been sanctioned, or ignored, by Russian intelligence agencies.
I can see how making a few harmless goodwill gestures (however nauseating) in Putin’s direction might play a part in an attempt to get him to the negotiating table, but a unilateral concession of this type just looks weak.
Donald Trump, The Art of the Deal:
“The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead.”