Tom Williams/AP
The head of the CIA in a secret trip to Ukraine reportedly held talks with officials on an ambitious strategy to retake territory from Russia and open ceasefire talks with Moscow by year-end.
Citing officials familiar with the visit, US media reported that CIA Director William Burns during the trip in June met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine’s top intelligence officials. The purpose of the visit was to reaffirm the Biden administration’s commitment to sharing intelligence designed to help Ukraine in the conflict.
Ukraine officials told Burns they aim to move artillery and missile systems near the boundary line of Crimea and push further into eastern Ukraine by the fall. Then Kiev intends to open negotiations with Moscow for the first time since they broke down in March of last year, the report said, citing people involved with the planning.
Officials reportedly later said they hope by agreeing not to take Crimea, Russia would accept whatever security guarantees Kiev can secure from the West.
One Ukrainian official told the outlet "the US agrees that Ukraine should enter the negotiations from a strong position."
The CIA refused to comment when asked about Burns' assessment of Kiev's plans, the report said.
Burns’ trip occurred just before Wagner chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin's aborted mutiny. The report said the US intelligence community had detected in mid-June that Prigozhin was plotting something, but that those findings were not relayed to Ukrainian officials.
According to the report, Kiev is under extraordinary pressure from Western allies that provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in weaponry ahead of the counteroffensive.
Earlier Friday, US media reported that Burns recently called his Russian counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, to inform him that the United States had no involvement in Prigozhin's aborted mutiny.
Ukraine launched its much-touted counteroffensive in early June after multiple postponements. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly said Ukrainian troops are trying to advance in the South Donetsk, Artemovsk, and Zaporozhye directions, but without success.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine lost as many as 259 tanks and 780 armored vehicles since the start of its counter-offensive. A number of Western media also noted the weak results of Kiev's counteroffensive, while Zelensky himself admitted that the progress was "slower than desired."
US Top General Says Not Surprised Ukrainian Counteroffensive Going Slower Than Predicted
Ukraine launched its much-touted counteroffensive in early June after multiple postponements. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly said that Ukrainian troops are trying to advance in the South Donetsk, Artemovsk (Bakhmut) and Zaporozhye directions, but without success.
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley said on Friday he does not find it surprising that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is going slower than predicted as he personally said before that it will be very long and difficult.
"That it's [the counteroffensive] going slower than people had predicted, doesn't surprise me at all," Milley said during an event hosted by the National Press Club. "What I had said was this is going to take six, eight, ten weeks. It's going to be very difficult, it's going to be very long, it's going to be very, very bloody and no one should have any illusions about it."
Milley also said that in his view time is not particularly on either side of the conflict because the latter continues to be very dynamic.
Addressing the issue of possibility of sending the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Ukraine, the top general said he is not aware of any decision. “It's a continuous, ongoing process to my knowledge and I don't know of a decision yet, but, sure, that's a process,” Milley said during an event hosted by the National Press Club.
On Thursday, a American daily reported citing officials that the United States is close to agreeing to send ATACMS to Ukraine.
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