CIA chief proposed summit involving Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin – Axios

CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a trilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian ruler Vladimir Putin aimed at ending the war during his secret trip to Moscow earlier this week.

Source: Axios, citing sources

Details: Sources told the outlet that part of Ratcliffe's visit was aimed at finding out whether Russian intelligence chiefs could help persuade Putin to take steps towards resuming US-mediated talks with Ukraine.

Axios also reported that US officials briefed Zelenskyy on Friday about Ratcliffe's talks in Moscow and the proposal for a trilateral summit.

The Trump administration had previously put forward the idea. Zelenskyy supported it, but Putin rejected it.

On Tuesday, Ratcliffe made a secret trip to Moscow, where he met with Sergei Naryshkin, Head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, and Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Trump said Ratcliffe's visit had been a "standard business" and was not intended to warn Russia about the danger of attacking NATO.

Axios sources said US officials had told Zelenskyy that in Moscow, Ratcliffe had also discussed the possibility of resuming peace talks.

The New York Times reported that during talks with Bortnikov, the CIA chief had given a pessimistic assessment of the course of the fighting for Russian forces.

Axios sources said Ratcliffe concluded that Bortnikov is a constructive player who could help revive diplomatic efforts.

Background:

• On 26 August, Trump denied in a radio interview that Ratcliffe had made the trip to persuade Putin not to test NATO's resolve or attack the UK, which had pledged to step up its support for Ukraine that week. Trump called the visit "semi-routine", but acknowledged that its purpose was to end the war.
• The Kremlin said the CIA chief's visit was linked to contact between Russian and US intelligence services.
• Politico learned from anonymous sources that during his visit to Moscow, Ratcliffe urged Russian officials not to take actions that could escalate tensions with US allies in NATO, particularly Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
• Ratcliffe's diplomatic mission to Russia this week was so confidential that even some senior White House officials had not known about it in advance.

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