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CIA director Ratcliffe floated Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit during Moscow visit, sources say
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CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a trilateral meeting between President Trump, Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky during his covert trip to Moscow earlier this week in an effort to end the war, two sources briefed on the matter told Axios.
Key facts
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a trilateral meeting between President Trump, Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky during his covert trip to Moscow earlier this week
- Ratcliffe made a covert trip to Moscow on Tuesday and met with his Russian counterparts: SVR foreign intelligence chief Sergey Naryshkin and FSB director Alexander Bortnikov — This was the first time Ratcliffe got personally involved in the diplomatic push to broker a breakthrough between Russia and Ukraine
- Behind the scenes: U.S. officials told Zelensky that Ratcliffe also floated in Moscow the possibility of reigniting peace talks
Summary
This was the first time Ratcliffe got personally involved in the diplomatic push to broker a breakthrough between Russia and Ukraine. Ratcliffe's visit was partly aimed at determining whether Russia's heads of intelligence services could help convince Putin to move toward resuming U.S.-mediated negotiations with Ukraine, the . On Friday, U.S. officials briefed Zelensky on Ratcliffe's talks in Moscow and the proposal for a trilateral summit. The Trump administration has raised the idea in the past.