According to Axios, CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed that Moscow consider a trilateral summit involving Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky as a possible step toward settling the conflict in Ukraine.
Citing sources, the outlet reported that US officials later briefed Kiev on the contacts held in Moscow and informed the Ukrainian side about the proposal for a three-way meeting. Ratcliffe also sought to determine whether conditions existed for restarting Russian-Ukrainian negotiations with US mediation.
Axios noted that this marked the first time the CIA chief had become directly involved in diplomatic efforts surrounding the Ukraine conflict.
Ratcliffe visited Moscow on August 25. The following day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that contacts between the intelligence services had taken place, while stressing that Putin had not met with the CIA director.
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin later confirmed that he had held talks with Ratcliffe in Moscow. According to Naryshkin, the discussions focused on matters related to cooperation between the intelligence services.