CIA director meets Russian counterpart in Ankara

White Home official says the 2 spy company chiefs in Ankara didn’t talk about any negotiations over the battle in Ukraine however talked concerning the penalties of nuclear weapons.

CIA Director William Burns has met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, the top of Russia’s International Intelligence Service, within the Turkish capital, Ankara, the Kremlin has confirmed.

In keeping with the TASS information company, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned: “Such negotiations actually occurred. It was the initiative of the American aspect.”

A White Home official mentioned the discussions between Burns and Naryshkin on Monday have been concerning the penalties of utilizing nuclear weapons.

United States President Joe Biden had the same dialog with Chinese language President Xi Jinping over decreasing the specter of nuclear battle in Ukraine.

However the US official, who spoke to the Reuters information company on the situation of anonymity, mentioned: “[Burns] shouldn’t be conducting negotiations of any form. He’s not discussing settlement of the battle in Ukraine.”

“He’s conveying a message on the implications of using nuclear weapons by Russia and the dangers of escalation to strategic stability,” the official mentioned.

“He can even increase the circumstances of unjustly detained US residents,” the official mentioned.

Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia, was despatched to Russia in 2021 by Biden to warning President Vladimir Putin about his troop build-up round Ukraine.

“We briefed Ukraine prematurely on his journey,” the US official mentioned. “We firmly stick with our elementary precept: nothing about Ukraine with out Ukraine.”

Whereas the assembly between Russia and the US was first reported by Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, The Related Press reported that two Turkish officers have mentioned they didn’t learn about a gathering between US and Russian delegations.

Nuclear weapons

Final month, Biden declared that the chance of nuclear “armageddon” is at its highest degree for the reason that 1962 Cuban missile disaster.

Since Moscow’s unlawful annexation of 4 areas in Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly mentioned it’s going to defend its territories with all obtainable means, together with nuclear weapons.

Earlier than a G20 summit will get underneath manner in Bali on Tuesday, Biden spoke to Xi and mentioned Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, which “reaffirmed our shared perception within the menace or using nuclear weapons is completely unacceptable”.

The talks referenced Moscow’s thinly veiled threats to make use of atomic weapons as its invasion of Ukraine reached its ninth month.

Prisoner swap

The US and Russia have a variety of points to debate moreover the battle in Ukraine, starting from the extension of the START arms treaty and the Black Sea grain export deal, which is because of expire quickly.

UN Secretary Basic Antonio Guterres was requested in Bali concerning the US-Russian contact in Turkey, and he mentioned the United Nations was not concerned within the talks.

“It’s very constructive that the US and Russia are having talks as a result of that’s a particularly related growth in relation to the longer term, however we’re not concerned,” Guterres mentioned.

Biden mentioned this month that he hoped Putin can be prepared to debate a potential prisoner swap to safe the discharge of US basketball star Brittney Griner, sentenced to 9 years in jail on medication prices, and former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years on espionage prices.

Viktor Bout, a Russian arms seller jailed within the US, has been talked about as an individual who may very well be swapped for Griner and Whelan in any future prisoner change.