Russia-US talks in Ankara at Washington initiative: Kremlin

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Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik on Monday that Russia and the United States are holding talks in Ankara on Monday, which were initiated by Washington.

"Yes, we confirm that Russian-US talks are taking place in Ankara today. It was an initiative of the American side. We cannot say anything about their content," Peskov said.

Earlier in the day, CNN reported, citing a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson, that CIA Director William Burns is meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Naryshkin in Ankara on Monday for talks on detained US citizens and nuclear risks.

Burns "is conveying a message on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, and the risks of escalation to strategic stability.  He will also raise the cases of unjustly detained US citizens," the NSC spokesperson was quoted as saying.

According to CNN, the CIA chief is "not conducting negotiations of any kind" and will not raise the topic of a settlement to the Ukraine conflict.

The meeting between Burns and Naryshkin is considered one of the rare meetings at this level between the two countries since the start of the war in Ukraine

Despite the escalating tension between them, Washington and Moscow have maintained channels of communication between them, especially through the US embassy in the Russian capital, in order to discuss bilateral issues and exchange messages about developments in Ukraine.

It was in Washington's interest to maintain contact with Moscow: Sullivan

A few days ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, held secret talks with top aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Monday, BBC also cited Sullivan as saying that communication between the US and Russia remained open and that it was in Washington's interest to maintain contact with Moscow.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrey Rudenko, denied that Russia had previously held negotiations with the United States on Ukraine but added that Kiev has adopted a law preventing it from conducting peaceful negotiations with Moscow.

"That’s their choice. We have always said we are ready for such negotiations, which had been interrupted not at our fault," Rudenko clarified.

In early October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree forbidding any diplomatic engagement with Putin, insisting that there will only be talks when Russia has a different president.

It is noteworthy that the last round of negotiations between Moscow and Kiev took place in March in Istanbul. Russia accused the Ukrainian side of backtracking on all the progress achieved in Turkey.

The Washington Post reported last week that the US has been privately asking Ukrainian officials to publicly show their readiness to sit at the negotiating table with Russia.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that Moscow and Kiev reached a preliminary agreement that could have ended hostilities but the Ukrainian leadership "lost all desire to have talks" as soon as Russian troops withdrew from the Ukrainian capital.

Read more: Washington, not Kiev, has final say in resolving Ukraine issue: Peskov