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CIA Director Burns’ visit to Russia in November focused on Ukraine — US envoy

According to John Sullivan, the United States tried to engage in discussions on Ukraine, on the Minsk agreements with the highest levels of the Russian government

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. The visit to Moscow by Director of the Central Intelligence Agency William Burns in November 2021 was dedicated to Ukrainian issues, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said in an interview with TASS.

"I was in Washington at the end of October and I returned to Moscow with CIA Director Bill Burns. Director Burns arrived on 1 November and we started engagement with the highest levels of the Russian government. It continued through November with discussions, we tried to engage in discussions on Ukraine, on the Minsk agreements. And not as part of the Normandy format, but seeing if there’s a way for the US to supplement what the German and French government were doing at the time to try to make progress on implementing the Minsk agreements," Sullivan said.

"From my perspective things really changed starting on November 1. That trip by Director Burns when the US government started to alert our allies and partners," the diplomat said.

Burns and a US delegation traveled to Moscow at the start of November 2011. On November 1 the CIA director held meetings with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and Russian Foreign Intelligence Director Sergey Naryshkin.

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