Trump: CIA chief Ratcliffe "involved in everything" on Ukraine talks

US President Donald Trump has said CIA Director John Ratcliffe is involved in all aspects of talks aimed at reaching a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ukraine.

“Ratcliffe is doing a great job. <...> He’s involved in everything,” Trump told reporters aboard his plane while travelling from Ireland to the US, Caliber.Az quotes Trump as saying per foreign media. reports 

Trump was asked by reporters aboard his plane while travelling from Ireland to the US whether Ratcliffe would play a more significant role in negotiations over the conflict.

He also praised presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who are involved in the negotiations, saying they were “doing a great job”. Trump cited the settlement of the situation in the Gaza Strip as an example.

The comments come after CIA Press Secretary Liz Lyons rejected as inaccurate a Financial Times report that Ratcliffe was preparing to take a more active role in negotiations over the Ukraine conflict.

Ratcliffe visited Moscow on August 25. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the visit was related to contacts between the intelligence services of Russia and the US. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin later confirmed that he had met Ratcliffe during the visit.

Witkoff and Kushner visited Moscow on September 5 and met Russian President Vladimir Putin. The following day, they met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, Trump and Putin spoke by phone on September 8.

By Aghakazim Guliyev