OTTAWA—Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says allied countries must “properly respect” Canadian values when handling intelligence shared by Canada’s spy agencies, as the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Russian meeting continues.

Goodale was repeatedly asked Tuesday if he was concerned Trump shared classified information, reportedly given to the U.S. by an ally, with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in an Oval Office meeting last week.

The revelations, first reported by the Washington Post, were initially denied by the White House. Trump himself confirmed the report on Twitter early Tuesday morning.

Canada routinely shares intelligence with the U.S., but Goodale refused to comment on “hypotheticals” or to “speculate about a media report in another country.”

“But I will say this: we have a very long-standing and very successful relationship with our Five Eyes allies,” Goodale told reporters, referring to the western security and intelligence alliance that includes Canada and the U.S., along with Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

“The relationship is strong and it has worked very successfully in Canada’s interests. We are always meticulous and we will continue to be meticulous and alert, to make sure that all Canadian laws and values are properly respected and that Canadians are kept safe.”

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that Trump revealed highly classified intelligence about Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak.

Trump’s decision to share classified information with the Russians, a traditional adversary of the Five Eyes alliance, has raised questions about how safe allies’ secrets are with the mercurial president.

Israeli intelligence officials, reportedly the source of the classified information, told BuzzFeed the episode confirmed their “worst fears.” A European intelligence officer, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said their country may stop sharing intelligence with the U.S.

Canada certainly isn’t stopping intelligence sharing with its closest ally. Both Goodale, who is responsible for CSIS and the RCMP, and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, who is responsible for the Communications Security Establishment, sang the praises of the security partnership between the two countries Tuesday.

But Canada depends on the U.S. for a lot of intelligence — and if allies get more selective with what they share with the U.S., it could have implications for Canada.

Stephanie Carvin, a professor at Carleton University and a former intelligence analyst, said co-operation between the two countries will, of course, continue. But if Trump’s actions put an informant at risk, a potential implication floated in U.S. media reports, it could make it harder for Western countries to recruit human sources.

“You have to protect your sources at all cost … intelligence organizations would rather let a case fail than expose a source in a court case,” Carvin said in an interview.

“I think where there might be concern is where people who have sources are now in a situation where they have to promise that this information will not be passed on to Donald Trump.”

Meanwhile, in Washington, the White House scrambled to explain why the president confirmed the broad strokes of a story they flatly denied the day before.

U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who on Monday said he was present for the meeting with the Russians and the exchange “didn’t happen,” refused to deny Tuesday that Trump divulged classified information.

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But he repeatedly said Trump’s disclosure was “wholly appropriate.” He said Trump was not even aware of the intelligence sources and methods behind the information, so he could not have revealed them to the Russians.

With files from Daniel Dale

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