CIA Director Burns secretly visits Kyiv in early June

The Washington Post reported the information.

"During a secret visit to Ukraine by CIA Director William J. Burns earlier this month, Ukrainian officials revealed an ambitious strategy to retake Russian-occupied territory and open cease-fire negotiations with Moscow by the end of the year," the report says.

During the visit, Burns met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leadership of Ukrainian intelligence. The visit comes as Ukrainian troops are trying to gain the upper hand in a long-awaited counteroffensive, but have not yet deployed most of their trained and equipped assault brigades.

A US official confirmed Burns' visit to Ukraine on condition of anonymity. According to the official, the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the US commitment to sharing intelligence relevant to the defense of Ukraine.

In addition, several other anonymous sources confirmed to the outlet that in a private conversation, military planners in Kyiv expressed to the CIA director and others their confidence in their goal of returning a significant part of the temporarily occupied territories by the fall. Burns was also told that he was confident in his other goals, including moving artillery and missile systems closer to the line of contact with Russia-occupied Crimea, and then starting talks with Moscow for the first time since the collapse of peace talks last March.

"Russia will only negotiate if it feels threatened," said one Ukrainian official.

The outlet also emphasizes that Ukraine has suffered significant losses as its troops are forced to move through minefields and fortified trenches in the open. This has made Ukrainian defenders vulnerable to Russian air strikes and missile attacks. The Washington Post adds that Zelenskyy admitted that the counteroffensive is "slower than desired." Officials also confirmed the destruction of several Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.

However, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov noted that "the main event” is still ahead. At the same time, the commander-in-chief of Ukrainian troops, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, called for patience and said that the counteroffensive was being conducted as diligently as possible.

"Yes, maybe not as fast as … the observers would like, but that is their problem," Zaluzhnyi emphasized.

Military analysts note that Ukraine's goal of forcing Russia to negotiate is ambitious, given Russia's powerful defense. However, they do not rule out that it is possible.

• On June 30, media reported that CIA Director William Burns called Russian GRU chief Sergei Naryshkin after the coup attempt in Russia to assure the Kremlin that the US was not involved.