CIA director made secret trip to Kyiv, meets with Ukraine’s Zelensky

CIA Director William Burns recently visited Ukraine, where he met with his intelligence counterparts and President Volodymyr Zelensky, a US official told AFP.

The visit, which was not disclosed at the time, came as the Ukrainian army launched a counterattack in the east and south of the country against Russian forces in early June, after weeks of anticipation.

During his visit, Burns reaffirmed "the commitment of the United States to share intelligence to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression," the US official said.

The Washington Post, which was the first to reveal the visit, reported that Ukrainian officials presented their plans to restore areas occupied by the Russians and to start ceasefire negotiations by the end of this year.

The US official added that Burns "went to Ukraine as he has done regularly since the start of the latest Russian aggression more than a year ago." The newspaper indicated that the visit took place in June.

The visit came before the Wagner Group's armed rebellion, which lasted 24 hours in Russia, according to the official.

The United States sought to make it clear to Russia that it had played no role in Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigozhin's mutiny, while mainstream American media reported that Burns had contacted the head of Russia's foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, after the mutiny to confirm that Washington was not involved in it.