Media reports about US intel sharing with Ukraine are counterproductive: Biden

President Joe Biden told the country's intelligence and defense officials that recent news reports about US intelligence sharing with Ukraine have been counterproductive.

"Such disclosures distract from our objective," an administration official quoted Biden as saying. 

On the phone with CIA Director William Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the president conveyed that the leaks should stop, reports MSN. 

The CIA and the Office of the DNI declined to comment. The Pentagon and the National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment.

Biden spoke to the officials amid concern in his administration about news reports, including by NBC News, about US intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

NBC News reported Thursday that US intelligence helped Ukraine sink the Russian flagship Moskva last month. That story followed one in the New York Times on Wednesday about the US providing Ukraine with intelligence that helped the Ukrainian military kill Russian generals. 

NBC News also reported last week how US intelligence helped Ukraine protect its air defense systems and shoot down a Russian plane. 

The Biden administration has denied providing targeting information for Ukraine to use to sink the Russian ship, and officials have said the US had no advance knowledge of the attack and wasn't involved in it. Officials have also said the US did not provide Ukraine with intelligence intended to be used to kill Russian generals. 

Some administration officials have expressed concern that the public disclosures could escalate the conflict by provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin and might hinder the effectiveness of the US sharing intelligence with Ukraine.