U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the declassification of intelligence on the eve of Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine because statements by U.S. officials about the impending attack were met with "skepticism," United States Intelligence Director Avril Haynes said, CNN reported.
"When we explained it to our policymakers, and our policymakers went to their interlocutors, they found that there was a lot of skepticism," Haynes said at a cybersecurity conference Monday.
"As a consequence, the president came to us and said: "You have to go out and share as much information as you can and make sure that people see what you see so that we can interact again and maybe have more productive conversations about how to plan, essentially, for the possibility of a Russian invasion," the U.S. intelligence chief said.
Note that since the early days of the Russian buildup on the Ukrainian border, the Biden administration has selectively declassified and made public intelligence about the Russian war in Ukraine, both to the media and to friendly nations. This approach was aimed at combating Russian propaganda on a global scale and ensuring that U.S. partners and allies had a unified picture.
Haynes said Monday that the U.S. "shared a lot in this space with partners and allies," eventually developing "sharing mechanisms" that could be used in the future.
As reported in December, U.S. intelligence has convinced NATO allies of the Russian threat to Ukraine.
