Burns discusses Ukraine with Russian intel chief
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Burns and Naryshkin have kept in touch since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
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CIA Director William Burns speaks during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 15, 2021. (AP)
The Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin said on Wednesday he discussed with his CIA counterpart William Burns discussed "what to do with Ukraine" in a phone call late last month, TASS reported.
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported on June 30 that Burns had called Naryshkin to assure the Kremlin that the United States had no role in the brief mutiny a week earlier by PMC Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters.
Previously, the US State Department stated that the US Ambassador in Russia contacted the Russian authorities to clarify that the US was not involved in the unrest in any way.
Naryshkin confirmed that Burns had raised "the events of June 24" when the Wagner Group took control of an army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia, and marched toward Moscow the next day. Prigozhin claimed that his activities were in retaliation for the Defense Ministry's purported assault on his group's field camps, but the Ministry denied this.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that Putin held a meeting in Moscow with the commanders of Wagner to discuss the June 24 military revolt attempt.
Although the CIA was unavailable for immediate comment, Naryshkin explained that the hour-long call surrounded discussions regarding "what to do with Ukraine."
Burns and Naryshkin have kept in touch since the beginning of the Ukraine war, at a time when other direct connections between Moscow and Washington are at an all-time low.
Naryshkin told TASS that peace talks might be conceivable at some time. The agency did not say if this was discussed with Burns.
"It's natural that negotiations will be possible sooner or later, because any conflict, including armed conflict, ends by negotiations, but the conditions for these still need to ripen," TASS quoted him as saying.
In response to the news, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters, "Today, someone like Naryshkin has no leverage over how this war will end," claiming that Russia was losing the battle and no conversations could be held with those like Naryshkin.
"This Russian elite perceives events completely inadequately, so there is nothing to talk about with them."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev receiving cluster bombs would allow Ukrainian forces to hasten their counteroffensive against Russia.
On Friday, the United States announced that it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time, but according to Ukrainian officials, Kiev wants its allies to provide it with F-16 fighter jets and other equipment.
