Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, told Newsmax that the leak of classified documents related to the ongoing war in Ukraine is an "act of espionage."
Joining "The Record with Greta Van Susteren" on Friday, Volker condemned the file leak, which detailed secret U.S. and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military before a renewed offensive.
"Someone who has access to classified information and deliberately puts it out into a public space is committing a criminal act, and it's an act of espionage," Volker explained. "That's what we saw with Julian Assange when he was doing WikiLeaks. That is still a criminal act."
However, "whether he was directed by someone abroad, whether Russia or China or someone else, we don't know. We don't have all the facts on this," he continued. "But the act itself is an act of treason."
His comments arrive days after the Pentagon said it was investigating the breach, which several analysts suggest could be a disinformation campaign by Russia.
The New York Times noted that the files are at least five weeks old and do not provide specific battle plans. However, the report says the information available still offers many important details, including the expenditure rate of U.S.-supplied rocket systems.
Volker also commented on Finland's decision to join NATO and Sweden's push to, moves that he believes were spurred by Russia's incursions into Ukraine and threats against neighboring countries.
"Finland and Sweden both looked around the neighborhood after Russia invaded Ukraine and said, 'You know what? It's not safe to be a neutral country anymore. We've been neutral for decades [in the case of Finland since World War II, Sweden for 200 years].'"
Finland officially joined the alliance Tuesday, with Sweden's membership currently being stalled by Hungarian and Turkish opposition, according to Reuters.
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