CIA Director John Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials during a visit to Moscow on Tuesday but did not meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had been briefed on the outcome of the discussions but declined to reveal what was discussed.
“All I can tell you is that there have been contacts via the security services,” Peskov told reporters. “There have been no meetings with the Russian president. Naturally, President Putin is kept informed of everything without delay.”
The talks come amid escalating fighting in Ukraine and at a time of continuing strains in relations between Moscow and Washington.
Asked whether visits by senior US officials could contribute to an improvement in bilateral relations, Peskov described continued contacts between the two countries’ intelligence services as a positive development.
“These contacts often continue even during the most difficult periods in bilateral relations,” he said.
However, Peskov cautioned against interpreting the discussions as evidence of a broader diplomatic breakthrough.
“It is still too early to say to what extent this will, overall, help to steer our bilateral relations out of the profound crisis in which they currently find themselves,” he said.