2023-07-01 02:00:51
According to information from the American newspaper The Washington Postthe American official met with the Ukrainian president Volodímir Zelenski and senior kyiv intelligence officials, with whom he discussed the possibility of negotiate a ceasefire with Moscow by the end of this year.
Ukrainian officials have reportedly told Burns that their goal is to move artillery and missile systems close to the Crimean border line and advance further into eastern Ukraine by the fall.
kyiv then intends to start negotiations with Moscow for the first time since they broke down in March last year, according to the report, citing people involved in the planning.
According to the outlet, Ukrainian officials hope that by agreeing not to take Crimea, Russia will approve any security guarantees kyiv can get from the West.
The CIA he declined to comment when asked about Burns’ assessment of the Zelensky regime’s plans.
Burns’ trip occurred just before the attempted armed mutiny by the head of the Wagner Group, Evgueni Prigozhin, a situation that has already been resolved thanks to the efforts of the Kremlin and the Government of Belarus.
For its part, the newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported that Burns recently called his Russian counterpart, Sergei Naryshkin, to inform him that his country was not involved in Prigozhin’s attempted mutiny.
Ukraine launched its much-heralded counter-offensive in early June after multiple postponements. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly stated that Ukrainian troops are trying to advance south of Donetsk, Artiomovsk (Bakhmut) and Zaporozhye, but without success.
On June 27, the Russian president, Vladimir Putinclaimed that Ukraine had lost up to 259 tanks and 780 armored vehicles since the start of its counteroffensive.
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