The head of the CIA had a conversation with the head of Putin’s espionage agency about nuclear weapons and detainees.
LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – During their meeting on Monday, the head of the CIA in the United States, William Burns, was expected to caution President Vladimir Putin’s spy chief about the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, and he was also expected to bring up the issue of American prisoners in Russia, according to an official from the White House.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, confirmed to Russian news agencies that a meeting between the United States and Russia had taken place in the capital city of Turkey, Ankara; however, he declined to provide specifics about the participants or the topics that were addressed at the meeting.
Burns is scheduled to meet with Sergei Naryshkin, who is the head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service, according to a spokesperson for the White House who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, this was the first known face-to-face encounter between high-level United States and Russian officials.
“He is not participating in any form of negotiation at this time. He is not going to talk about ending the war in Ukraine at this time “a representative of the company stated.
“He is delivering a message regarding the repercussions that would result from the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, as well as the dangers that would be posed to the strategic balance of power… He will also bring up the situations of United States individuals who have been jailed without due cause.”
Burns, a former ambassador for the United States to Russia, was dispatched by President Joe Biden to Moscow in the latter half of 2021 in order to warn Vladimir Putin about the buildup of troops in the area surrounding Ukraine.
“We provided Ukraine with an update on his travel before he left. We will not budge from our core belief that there should be no discussion of Ukraine unless Ukraine is involved “a representative of the company stated.
Putin has stated on multiple occasions that, in the event of an attack, Russia will defend its territory using any and all methods at its disposal, including nuclear weapons. According to him, Russia is the victim of nuclear blackmail on the part of the West.
MANY OUTSTANDING ISSUES
After Moscow announced in September that it had annexed four Ukrainian regions that its forces partly control, the words sparked special worry in the West.
The Russian publication Kommersant was the one that broke the news that the United States and Russia had been in contact with one another in Turkey. A request for comment from the SVR was not met with a response.
Beyond the conflict itself, Russia and the United States still have a number of unresolved matters to talk about. These concerns range from the renewal of a nuclear arms reduction treaty and a Black Sea grain agreement to the possibility of a prisoner swap and the civil war in Syria.
When asked about the conference in Turkey during a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies that took place in Indonesia, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the United Nations was not involved in the event.
This month, Vice President Biden expressed his hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be willing to discuss seriously the possibility of making a trade in order to secure the release of American basketball star Brittney Griner, who is currently serving a sentence of nine years in a Russian penal colony for drug charges.
Paul Whelan, a former United States Marine who currently possesses passports from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland, was found guilty of spying in 2020 and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison, despite his denial of the charge.
It has been suggested that Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer currently detained in the United States, could be the prisoner who is exchanged for Griner and Whelan in the event that a prisoner swap takes place.
