LONDON: US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns on Monday met Vladimir Putin’s spy chief, where he is believed to have cautioned the latter about the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, and raised the issue of US prisoners in Russian jails, a White House spokesperson said.
In the first known high-level face-to-face US-Russian contact since Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Burns was in Ankara on Monday to meet Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service.
“He is not conducting negotiations of any kind. He is not discussing settlement of the war in Ukraine,” said the White House spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“He is conveying a message on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, and the risks of escalation to strategic stability,” the spokesperson said.
“He will also raise the cases of unjustly detained US citizens.” Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia who was sent to Moscow in late 2021 by US President Joe Biden to caution Putin about the troop buildup around Ukraine, is not discussing a potential settlement to the war in Ukraine, the spokesperson said.
“We briefed Ukraine in advance on his trip. We firmly stick to our fundamental principle: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” Putin has repeatedly said Russia will defend its territory with all available means, including nuclear weapons, if attacked. Putin says the West has engaged in nuclear blackmail against Russia.
Outstanding issues
The remarks raised particular concern in the West after Moscow declared in September that it had annexed four Ukrainian regions that its forces control parts of.
The US-Russian contact in Turkey was first reported by Russia’s Kommersant newspaper. The Kremlin, asked about the Kommersant report, said it could neither confirm nor deny it. The SVR did not respond to a request for comment.
Beyond the war, Russia and the United States have a host of outstanding issues to discuss, ranging from the extension of a key nuclear arms reduction treaty and a Black Sea grain deal to a possible US-Russian prisoner swap and the Syrian civil war.
