CIA director William Burns reportedly called Russian spy chief Sergei Naryshkin in the aftermath of failed mutiny by the Wagner group.
The phone call to the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service was to assure Kremlin that the US had no role in the Wagner group’s aborted rebellion, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal said.
“The US wasn’t involved,” one official said about the CIA message to the Kremlin. “This is an internal Russian matter,”
The White House declined to comment, saying they will not get into specifics of “individual diplomatic discussions”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of “extremely active” weeks ahead as Ukrainian forces have launched a counteroffensive to reclaim territories from the Russian army.
He said the counteroffensive is making progress in all directions, adding that his forces have killed 21,000 Wagner troops in a separate interview.
Earlier, a leading think tank said Vladimir Putin may take “formal control” of Wagner forces in Ukraine – and beyond – following the failed rebellion by the mercenary group.
