The spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, declared this Wednesday (26) that the director of the CIA – the United States intelligence agency –, John Ratcliffe, did not meet with President Vladimir Putin during his quick and unexpected visit to Moscow on Tuesday (25).
According to the spokesperson, there was contact between the intelligence services of the two countries, and the president was informed about the results. At the same time, Peskov did not provide details about the content of the meetings that took place in Moscow.
“I can only say that there were contacts between the intelligence services. I can say that there were no meetings with the president of Russia. And that is all I can say on this topic. Of course, President Putin is being informed of all this immediately,” he said.
When commenting on whether the CIA director’s visit could result in an improvement in bilateral relations between Russia and the USA in light of the current crisis between the two countries, Peskov stated that the contact between the intelligence services is positive, but said that it is still too early to say whether this could result in an improvement in relations.
“Contacts between the special services are, in themselves, positive. It is a positive process. These contacts happen even in the most difficult moments of bilateral relations, which was even said by the president [Vladimir Putin]. But what this could mean in general for the outcome of our bilateral relations given the deep crisis they are in, it is still too early to say”, he concluded.
unexpected visit
John Ratcliffe’s unexpected presence in Moscow was marked by speculation. Initially, it was reported that a US military plane had landed in the Russian capital. Later, sources heard by the television network CBS and the agency Axios reported that CIA director John Ratcliffe could be on board the aircraft. Then, other US vehicles confirmed the same news.
Ratcliffe’s trip is the first visit by a CIA director to Moscow since November 2021, when then-agency head William Burns met with President Vladimir Putin. The meeting took place a few months before the start of the war in Ukraine.
The last high-level meeting between representatives of the United States government and Russian authorities in Moscow took place in January this year, when American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Putin to discuss negotiations on the war in Ukraine.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
