The head of Russian foreign intelligence is committed to keeping open contacts with the CIA despite the war

June 23 () –

The director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Narishkin, expressed this Friday his willingness to keep communication channels open with the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, to prevent the war in Ukraine from ending. to escape the control of the conflicting parties.

“For some time now it is true that there have been no contacts with my counterpart, the director of the CIA (William Burns) but, at the same time, the opportunity to resume them is still there,” Narishkin explained in an interview with the agency. Russian TASS.

Narishkin recalled that the last meeting he had with Burns occurred last November in Ankara (Turkey) “in a very relaxed atmosphere, which favored a calm conversation.”

“On a personal level, our relations are quite decent and I am of the opinion that it is necessary to continue with such contacts,” he said.

November 1 is the first known high-level, face-to-face contact between Washington and Moscow intelligence services since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia, was sent to Moscow in late 2021 by President Joe Biden to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin about Moscow’s troop buildup around Ukraine weeks before the invasion began. .