CIA director involved in all aspects of Ukraine talks — Trump

WASHINGTON, September 14. /TASS/. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe is aware of all aspects of the talks on the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, US President Donald Trump stated.

"Ratcliffe is doing a great job. <...> He’s involved in everything," the US leader told reporters aboard his plane en route from Ireland to the US when asked whether the CIA director would play a more significant role in the talks on the conflict in Ukraine.

At the same time, Trump emphasized that special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are also "doing a great job" as negotiators, citing the settlement of the situation in the Gaza Strip as an example.

Earlier, CIA Press Secretary Liz Lyons dismissed as inaccurate claims by the Financial Times that Ratcliffe was preparing to take on a more active role in the negotiation process to settle the conflict in Ukraine. The CIA director visited Moscow on August 25. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov then said that Ratcliffe’s trip was related to contacts between the intelligence services of the two countries. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin confirmed that he had met with the CIA director while he was in Moscow.

On September 5, Witkoff and Kushner visited Moscow, where they met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The next day, they met with Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, Putin and Trump spoke by phone on September 8.