CIA Director Takes ‘Rare Trip’ to Russia, Warns Kremlin Over Troop Buildup Along Ukrainian Border: CNN

CIA Director Bill Burns took a “rare trip” to Moscow last week “to warn the Kremlin that the US is watching its buildup of troops near Ukraine’s border closely, and to attempt to determine what is motivating Russia’s actions,” reported CNN on Friday evening, citing “multiple US and Ukrainian sources briefed on the meeting.”

According to Natasha Bertrand, Jim Sciutto and Kylie Atwood:

The Biden administration has ramped up its efforts in recent days to de-escalate growing tensions between Moscow and Kiev. Following his meetings in Russia, Burns spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone in an attempt to diffuse those tensions, the sources told CNN. A senior State Department official was also dispatched to Kiev on Thursday to support those efforts.

The flurry of high-level diplomacy underscores how seriously the Biden administration is taking the latest Russian troop movements, even after an earlier buildup in the spring ultimately did not lead to a renewed invasion. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia have also been exacerbated in recent weeks by a deepening Ukrainian energy crisis that Kiev believes Moscow has purposefully provoked.

While Ukraine and some in the Biden administration reportedly do not believe Russia will invade Ukraine, President Joe Biden, “in an effort to prevent any kind of escalation … dispatched Burns to Moscow on Tuesday, where he met with Kremlin officials to try to deter any plans for an offensive by conveying that the US is closely monitoring the troop movements,” according to CNN, citing “people briefed on their meeting.”

“Burns also brought up US concerns 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,” reported CNN.

Watch above, via CNN.