NEW YORK, November 15. /TASS/. The Turkey-hosted discussions between US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin are "centered around mitigating the nuclear threat between the two nations, not on the current conflict in Ukraine," Newsweek wrote, citing a White House official.
"He is not conducting negotiations of any kind. He is not discussing settlement of the war in Ukraine," a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said, according to the media outlet. "He is conveying a message on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, and the risks of escalation to strategic stability. He will also raise the cases of unjustly detained US citizens," the spokesperson added.
The Russian-US consultations were previously confirmed to TASS by Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Turkish presidential communications chief Fahrettin Altun, in turn, confirmed that Naryshkin and Burns had held a meeting on Monday. The parties discussed global security threats, including those related to the possible use of nuclear weapons, he told NTV.