CIA director Ratcliffe floated Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit during Moscow visit, sources say
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. Why it matters: This was the first time Ratcliffe got personally involved in the diplomatic push to broker a breakthrough between…
CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a trilateral summit between President Trump, Russian President Putin, and Ukrainian President Zelensky during his covert visit to Moscow, according to sources. This summit was aimed at ending the war and potentially resuming U.S.-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Ratcliffe's visit was seen as the first personal involvement in diplomatic efforts to broker a breakthrough between Russia and Ukraine.
U.S. officials briefed Zelensky on Ratcliffe's talks and the proposal for a trilateral summit, with the Trump administration previously raising the idea. Zelensky has been supportive of the proposal, while Putin has rejected it. Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence chiefs Sergey Naryshkin and Alexander Bortnikov during his visit, and suggested the possibility of reigniting peace talks.
However, Ukrainian officials remain skeptical of Putin's intentions and believe he is planning a major escalation of the war.
Brief written by urgent.news from Axios's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
