William Burns and Sergey Naryshkin met in Ankara in November
FILE PHOTO: Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin meet in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021. © Peter Klaunzer – Pool / Keystone via Getty Images
A recent meeting of the top spies from Russia and the US was requested by President Joe Biden of Vladimir Putin, according to Moscow. The gathering took place late last year.
Sergey Naryshkin, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and CIA Director William Burns met on Turkish soil in mid-November. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned the event during a press conference on Wednesday, as he was discussing the lack of peace talks on Ukraine. The US has yet to make a “serious proposal” on resolving the situation, he said.
There were “no revelations” during the Burns-Naryshkin negotiations, Lavrov stated. “In general, during sporadic contacts with Russia on various levels, the West says nothing that would go beyond its public stance,” he remarked.
The top Russian diplomat previously lamented that information about the meeting between the two intelligence chiefs had been leaked to the media.
“The Americans themselves told us ten times that this channel of communication was absolutely confidential and should not be disclosed… so that it would not be tainted by some propagandistic spin,” he told journalists last month.
“We agreed. But as soon as they landed in Ankara, [the news] was immediately leaked. I don’t know where from, whether it was the White House or the Department of State,” he added.
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Naryshkin this week indicated that he would be ready to meet Burns again, provided that both sides agree to such contact.
