CIA Director secretly visits Ukraine, hears plans to liberate territories – the Washington Post

During a secret visit to Ukraine by CIA Director William Burns earlier this month, Ukrainian authorities revealed a strategy to him to regain Russian-occupied territories and begin ceasefire talks with Moscow by the end of the year.

Source: The Washington Post, citing sources

Quote: "The trip by Burns, which has not been previously reported, included meetings with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s top intelligence officials."

Details: According to the newspaper's sources, the purpose of the visit was to reiterate the US administration's commitment to sharing intelligence that will help Ukraine defend itself.

Publicly, Ukrainian officials expressed disappointment at the criticism of the pace of the counteroffensive that has taken place so far.

But privately, sources say, military planners in Kyiv have conveyed to Burns and others strong confidence that their goal was to recapture significant territory by the autumn, move artillery and missile systems to the border with Russia-controlled Crimea, push further into the east of Ukraine, and then begin talks with Moscow for the first time since peace talks failed last March.

"Russia will only negotiate if it feels threatened," said a senior Ukrainian official.

The CIA declined to share Burns' assessment of the prospects for the Ukrainian offensive.

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