According to information from the “Washington Post” and the news agency Portal, the director of the American CIA, William Burns, recently traveled to Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian president there.
A “secret” meeting revealed by the American media. CIA director William Burns met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to brief the head of state “on the analysis.” [du conflit] the United States government for the next few weeks and months,” according to the Washington Post.
The Portal news agency also passed on the information. “Director Burns traveled to Kyiv where he met with his Ukrainian intelligence colleagues as well as with President Zelenskyy, to whom he reiterated our continued support for Ukraine and its defense against Russian aggression,” he said, a US official at the agency said.
This Thursday, Washington also announced a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine totaling $2.5 billion, including hundreds of armored vehicles of various types, but no Abrams heavy tanks.
So the CIA chief’s visit, which the Washington Post said would have taken place last week, comes at a key moment in the conflict. The war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, will soon surpass the 12-month mark.
With the Republican victory in the US House of Representatives, American aid to Ukraine could be reduced in the coming months.
Even before the war in Ukraine
William “Bill” Burns had personally traveled to Ukraine before the Russian invasion at the end of February to warn Zelenskyy of the danger of an assassination attempt looming over him.
In an interview with CBS in October, he spoke about the situation in Ukraine and said he feared the unpredictability of a besieged Vladimir Putin.
“A cornered Putin with his back against the wall can be dangerous and reckless and will be remembered for the wrong assumptions he made before the war. I think he’s now basing his approach on equally flawed assumptions and believes that “he can stand up to the Ukrainians, the United States and the West,” he said.