MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Russia gave no security guarantees to US President Joe Biden during his visit to Kiev, FSB director Alexander Bortnikov said on Tuesday.
"Indeed, the United States notified Russia about Biden’s visit to Kiev - via diplomatic channels. But we gave no guarantees of his security," he said in an interview with the Shot Telegram channel.
He stressed that Russian and US special services continue to cooperate, especially in what concerns the fight against international terrorism. "This cooperation continues. Naturally, it is not at the level it used to be at so no one benefits from it. All of us are interested in maintaining ties," he noted.
However, in his words, the West is behind the threats from the security services of Ukraine. "This applies also to what happened on the Crimean Bridge," he said. "Bearing in mind these processes, I think that the president has been exceptionally clear about all the issues that are very important for us from the point of view of security."
Biden paid an unannounced visit to Kiev on Monday. Preparations for the visit were kept secret until the last moment. The US president is visiting Poland from February 20 through 22 to meet with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, and the leaders of the Bucharest Nine (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Estonia).