‘Consequences of nuclear use…’: US as CIA head meets Putin’s spy chief

Talks between Russia and the United States took place in Ankara on Monday, the TASS news agency reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

A White House spokesperson said Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William Burns will caution Vladimir Putin’s spy chief about the consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, and will raise the issue of US prisoners in Russian jails.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed in talks that nuclear weapons should never be used, including in Ukraine, the White House said.

In the first known high-level face-to-face US-Russian contact since Putin’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Burns was in Ankara to meet Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service.

“He is not conducting negotiations of any kind. He is not discussing settlement of the war in Ukraine,” said the White House spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He is conveying a message on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, and the risks of escalation to strategic stability,” the spokesperson said. “He will also raise the cases of unjustly detained US citizens.”

Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia who was sent to Moscow in late 2021 by Biden to caution Putin about the troop buildup around Ukraine, is not discussing a potential settlement to the war in Ukraine, the spokesperson said.

“We briefed Ukraine in advance on his trip. We firmly stick to our fundamental principle: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

The meeting comes even as the US issued another round of Russia-related sanctions, targeting 14 people, 28 entities and eight aircraft, according to a notice posted on the Department of Treasury website.