Kremlin aide dismisses rumors of Putin’s refusal to meet with CIA chief

MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov has dismissed Western media reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to meet with US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe during the latter’s visit to Russia.

"As far as I know, there were no such plans. The CIA director met with senior officials from the Russian intelligence community," Ushakov said in a comment to Life journalist Alexander Yunashev.

The Kremlin aide emphasized that the conversations were confidential and strictly official. "This is why I don’t have the right to tell you about their essence, let alone comment on them," he added.

The CIA chief visited Moscow on August 25. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the trip was part of communication between the two countries’ intelligence agencies. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin confirmed that he had met with the CIA director during his visit to Moscow.