Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin said on Tuesday that another meeting with US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns was possible, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
Naryshkin, head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, met Burns in Ankara in November.
US officials said at the time that Burns had cautioned Naryshkin about the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and raised the issue of US prisoners in Russia.
When asked if there would be another such meeting, Naryshkin told TASS: “It’s possible.”
He said the meeting with Burns had been meaningful and had allowed Russia to clarify its position, TASS reported.
Burns is a former US ambassador to Russia who was sent to Moscow in late 2021 by President Joe Biden to caution Putin about the troop build-up around Ukraine.
Naryshkin said Russia had “unprecedented” cooperation with China, including exchanges of large quantities of operational and signals intelligence, TASS said.
He said Russia was building up broad intelligence connections with its ally Iran, saying that “some special services are our partners.”
Naryshkin also said he spoke at intervals to unidentified heads of European spy agencies about the situation in Ukraine, TASS reported.
Russia’s spy chief says meeting with CIA’s Burns is possible — TASS
https://arab.news/9cz3n
Russia’s spy chief says meeting with CIA’s Burns is possible — TASS
- Naryshkin, head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, met Burns in Ankara in November
Ukraine’s Zelensky: We have backed US peace proposals to get a deal done
- “The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told The Atlantic
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had sought to back US peace proposals to end the war with Russia as President Donald Trump seeks to resolve the conflict before November mid-term elections.
Zelensky, in an interview published by The Atlantic on Thursday, said Kyiv was willing to hold both a presidential election and a referendum on a deal, but would not settle for an accord that was detrimental to Ukraine’s interests.
“The tactic we chose is for the Americans not to think that we want to continue the war,” Zelensky told the US-based publication. “That’s why we started supporting their proposals in any format that speeds things along.”
He said Ukraine was “not afraid of anything. Are we ready for elections? We’re ready. Are we ready for a referendum? We’re ready.”
Zelensky has sought to build good relations with Washington since an Oval Office meeting in February 2025 descended into a shouting match with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
But he said he had rejected a proposal, reported this week by the Financial Times, to announce the votes on February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. A ceasefire and proposed US security guarantees against a future invasion had not yet been settled, he said.
“No one is clinging to power,” The Atlantic quoted him as saying. “I am ready for elections. But for that we need security, guarantees of security, a ceasefire.”
And he added: “I don’t think we should put a bad deal up for a referendum.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Zelensky is not a legitimate negotiating partner because he has not faced election since coming to power in 2019.
Zelensky has said in recent weeks that a document on security guarantees for Ukraine is all but ready to be signed.
But, in his remarks, he acknowledged that details remained unresolved, including whether the US would be willing to shoot down incoming missiles over Ukraine if Russia were to violate the peace.
“This hasn’t been fixed yet,” Zelensky said. “We have raised it, and we will continue to raise these questions...We need all of this to be written out.”
