Axios: CIA chief proposed Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy talks to end Ukraine war

CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed holding a trilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his covert trip to Moscow earlier this week, seeking to help end the war, two sources briefed on the matter told Axios.

The visit marked the first time Ratcliffe had personally become involved in diplomatic efforts to broker a breakthrough between Russia and Ukraine.

According to the sources, one of the main aims of Ratcliffe’s trip was to determine whether Russia’s intelligence chiefs could help persuade Putin to move toward resuming US-mediated negotiations with Ukraine.

Ratcliffe met with his Russian counterparts — Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin and Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov.

On August 28, US officials briefed Zelenskyy on Ratcliffe’s talks in Moscow and his proposal for a trilateral summit. The idea of such a meeting had previously been put forward by the Trump administration. Zelenskyy had supported the proposal, while Putin had opposed it.

According to Axios, Ratcliffe also discussed the possibility of restarting peace talks during his meetings in Moscow. The New York Times previously reported that he gave Bortnikov a “bleak assessment” of the situation on the battlefield and urged the Russian side to reach an agreement before conditions deteriorated further.

Axios sources said Ratcliffe ultimately viewed Bortnikov as a constructive interlocutor who could help advance renewed diplomatic efforts. The CIA declined to comment.

At the same time, Ukrainian officials remain skeptical of the Russian leadership’s intentions. Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of Zelenskyy’s Office, said Ukrainian intelligence had information indicating that Russia was preparing for a possible large-scale offensive in northern Ukraine. He identified Kyiv and Chernihiv regions among the key potential directions of the attack.

By Jeyhun Aghazada