NEW YORK, November 6. /TASS/. CIA director William Burns visited Moscow in order to let Russia know that the US was closely monitoring the alleged buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. As CNN reported on Friday, citing its sources, the US intelligence chief was supposed to determine what was motivating Russia’s actions.
According to CNN, during meetings in Moscow, the CIA’s chief tried to warn Russia against any plans for an offensive, stressing that the US closely monitors all the movements of Russian troops.
The TV channel noted that during his official two-day visit this week, the US intelligence chief also expressed concern "that Russia is close to using its gas exports as leverage, with Ukraine and other European nations forecast to suffer energy crises heading into winter." After meetings in Moscow, where the US official held talks with Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev and Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin, "Burns called [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky on Wednesday to convey the administration's concerns over Russia's behavior and reassure him that the US is closely tracking the Russian activity, according to a person with direct knowledge of the call," CNN reported. The CIA’s press service has not yet responded to a TASS’ request to confirm this information.
On November 3, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took a swipe at articles published in US media outlets that claim Russia was allegedly amassing troops at the Ukrainian border, branding them to be part of a fake news campaign. She noted that at least three US media outlets - Politico, the Washington Post and Foreign Policy published "as if on cue in a real panic attack" materials that Russia was allegedly moving its troops to the Ukrainian border. "This wasn’t one fake news item, this is an entire fresh fake news campaign in American media outlets," the diplomat said at a briefing on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov branded the reports of Russian military equipment "near the borders with Ukraine" as "cheap fake news." The press secretary emphasized that the movement of Russian military equipment and troops inside the country is solely Moscow’s internal affair.