Ukraine reports U.S. about preparations for talks with Russia

During a visit to Ukraine by CIA Director William Burns in June, Ukrainian authorities revealed a strategy to him to move artillery and missile systems to Crimea and begin ceasefire talks with Moscow, The Washington Post reported, citing sources

It was reported that the trip by Burns last month included meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top intelligence officials.

"Military planners in Kyiv have conveyed to Burns and others strong confidence that their goal was to recapture significant territory by the autumn, move artillery and missile systems to the border with Crimea, push further into the east, and then begin talks with Moscow," the newspaper reported.

Naryshkin and Burns

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Burns called Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin this week to tell him that the U.S. had nothing to do with the mutiny attempt by the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC).

According to them, the phone conversation between Burns and Naryshkin was the highest-level interaction between Washington and Moscow since the incident.

The conversation aimed to deliver a message that Washington "had no involvement" in Wagner founder Evgeny Prigozhin’s actions and did not intend to exacerbate tensions in Russia, the newspaper writes.

According to the newspaper, Burns told Naryshkin that the incident was Russia’s internal affair.