NYT: Patrushev and Burns at a meeting in Moscow talked about Ukraine and the Russian army Ex-US Ambassador John Sullivan attended a meeting of Burns and Patrushev in Moscow in November 2021. The head of the CIA warned about Washington’s reaction to the fighting in Ukraine, and the Secretary of the Security Council said about the power of the Russian military
Nikolai Patrushev
The head of the CIA, William Burns, during a meeting with the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, in Moscow in November 2021, warned that Western countries would react decisively and cohesively in the event of hostilities in Ukraine. This is reported by The New York Times with reference to John Sullivan, who was present at the meeting, who then held the post of US ambassador to Russia. He left this post in September of this year, after almost three years of work.
According to the newspaper, Burns said that in the event of the outbreak of hostilities, the consequences for Russia will be serious.
In response, the NYT reports, referring to the officials participating in the meeting, Patrushev looked the head of the CIA in the eye, put aside his notes and spoke about the valor of the Russian army.
“He just looked at Burns and said, ‘We can do this.’ I described it this way: it [the start of hostilities in Ukraine] had already been decided, and they [the Russian side] were extremely confident in themselves. His message was this: “It’s not a problem for us to do what we want,” NYT quotes Sullivan.
According to the NYT interlocutors, upon returning to Washington, Burns informed American President Joe Biden that Putin had decided to start hostilities and the Russian side was confident of victory.
William Burns’ visit to Moscow took place on November 2–3, 2021. He met with Patrushev and the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin. The Security Council then said that Patrushev and Burns discussed Russian-American relations. CNN later reported that the CIA director came to Moscow to warnthe Russian side that “the United States is closely monitoring the build-up of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine”, as well as to establish the motivation for Russia’s actions. According to the channel’s sources, at meetings with Russian officials, Burns warned Moscow against any plans to conduct any offensive operations.
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After the start of the Russian military operation on February 24, Western states imposed several rounds of tough sanctions against Moscow and increased the supply of weapons and other military assistance to Kiev. The Russian authorities consider the restrictive measures illegal and declare that the objectives of the operation will be fulfilled.
Another meeting of Burns with a representative of Russia took place in November of this year. He held talks with Naryshkin in Ankara. A CNN journalist reported that they discussed issues related to American prisoners in Russia and nuclear security. The head of the SVR confirmed that the latter topic was indeed discussed, they also talked about Ukraine. The Kremlin said that they had “nothing to say” about the content of the negotiations.
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