World order ‘under threat,’ UK and US spy chiefs warn

The international order is “under threat” in ways not seen since the end of the Cold War, the heads of the U.K. and U.S. foreign intelligence services warned on Saturday.
The chiefs of Britain’s MI6 and America’s CIA also said both countries stand together in “resisting an assertive Russia and Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine.”
MI6 boss Richard Moore and CIA chief Bill Burns also said in an op-ed in the Financial Times that there was work being done to “disrupt the reckless campaign of sabotage” across Europe by Russia and to push for de-escalation in the Israel-Gaza war in the Middle East.
They said they were “working ceaselessly” for a cease-fire and hostage deal in the Gaza Strip.
The two spy chiefs also said they saw the war in Ukraine coming “and were able to warn the international community,” in part by declassifying secrets to help Kyiv. Burns and Moore said their agencies “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation.”
“Staying the course [in Ukraine] is more vital than ever,” they said. Russian President Vladimir Putin “will not succeed in extinguishing Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence,” they said, adding that their agencies would continue aiding Ukrainian intelligence.
They also said a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war “could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement.”
The column is the first joint opinion piece by the heads of the two spy agencies.