G-7 Talks Will Measure Allies’ Reactions to US Documents Leak

The American government recently released some really sensitive files about the war in Ukraine and America’s other allies. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Japan soon to meet with six of America’s best friends there, and this will be a good test to see if releasing these documents caused any real problems or not.

Starting on Sunday, the Group of Seven foreign ministers will have a three-day discussion to figure out if the recent leak of sensitive information has caused any problems with trust between the allied countries or is just another thing that has made the U.S. look bad during the past ten years.

Blinken said he didn’t get any reports from friends about this issue, but it’s still an important topic for the G-7 meeting. This is because recently secret information got put online and somebody was even arrested for leaking it.

“We’ve been talking to our friends and allies since news of these leaks broke, and we’re showing that we are very serious about protecting important information and keeping strong with our security relationships,” Blinken said before leaving for Japan from Hanoi.

He said that so far, everyone understands the steps we’re taking and it hasn’t damaged our relationship. He doesn’t think anything bad has happened yet. But more news is being released every day which might change things.

The leaked documents show us not only details about the Ukraine and Russia’s armies, but they also tell us what Taiwan, Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan can do to protect themselves.

A suspect has been arrested and extra steps are being taken to protect important information. Based on what I know so far, our relationship with other countries won’t be affected by this.

10 years ago, the US was embarrassed when private diplomatic cables were leaked. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to apologize and explain US policy on things such as Argentia, Israel, Italy and other countries that the US is allied with.

On Friday, Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old from the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was taken to court for an accusation of leaking secrets. The prosecutors said that evidence found in phone bills and discussions with people who knew him online helped them find out that he did it. U.S. officials have not checked all the secret files that Jack is believed to have put on an online game website but they look real.

There is a bunch of paperwork that covers super secret information. That includes info about where Ukrainian troops are, if other countries will help Ukraine, and when Russian President Putin would possibly use nuclear weapons. The documents must be handled carefully; they should not be taken home by anyone or shown to people who don’t have permission. They need to stay in secure places and get destroyed when it’s time for them to go away forever.

Even though the legal consequences for Teixeira and what the internal administration investigation uncovered might be uncertain, Blinken and his staff probably won’t avoid being asked questions regarding the leaking of information. This has been happening since 2010, so it’s now happened four times in total.

In 2010, Wikileaks released a huge amount of documents from 271 different American embassies and consulates around the world. The papers dated from December 1966 to February 2010, and had been removed of sources’ names. This was the largest set of secret papers ever shared with people all over the world.