The White House is using Russian-made technology to conceal direct communications between Washington and Moscow, according to a state-owned defense company.
Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec claims the White House is using encryption technology developed by a special unit that allows President Donald Trump to directly — and secretly — communicate with Russian president Vladimir Putin, reported the Moscow Times.
Rostec representatives initially revealed their claims about a secret hotline to the state-run Sputnik, and other Kremlin-backed outlets reported the company’s claims.
A direct link between the Kremlin and the White House was set up Aug. 30, 1963, a year after the Cuban Missile crisis, and the communications have advanced from teletype to fax machines, before being replaced in the past decade with computer communications.
Rostec claims its Avtomatika unit, which specializes in encryption and secure communications, supplies the White House with technology that allows Trump and Putin to communicate privately.
An unidentified Rostec representative told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency that U.S. experts tested and recommended the Russian-made encryption equipment.
“In all its years of existence, the direct line uses only Russian-made equipment,” the unnamed representative said, but offered no additional details.
