CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed holding a trilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to seek an end to the Russia-Ukraine war during a secret visit to Moscow earlier this week, Axios reported this, citing two sources.
This was the first time Ratcliffe had become personally involved in an initiative aimed at facilitating progress in diplomatic efforts between Russia and Ukraine. A source said one of the purposes of Ratcliffe’s visit was to determine whether the heads of Russia’s intelligence services could persuade Putin to take a step toward resuming US-mediated negotiations with Ukraine.
On Friday, US officials briefed Zelenskyy on Ratcliffe’s talks in Moscow and his proposal for a trilateral summit.
The Trump administration had previously raised the idea. Zelenskyy agreed to the proposal, but Putin rejected it.
During his visit to Moscow, Ratcliffe met with Sergei Naryshkin, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, and Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Security Service.
The New York Times reported that Ratcliffe presented Bortnikov with a “pessimistic assessment” of the current state of the war and urged Russia to reach an agreement before the situation deteriorated further.
Trump told Axios that Ratcliffe’s visit was “standard business” and was not intended to warn Russia against attacking NATO territory.
The CIA declined to comment on the matter.
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