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CIA director holds secret meeting with Zelensky on Russia’s next steps

High-level visit by Burns comes at critical juncture in war and as government in Kyiv airs concern about durability of U.S. support

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January 19, 2023 at 5:06 p.m. EST
CIA Director William J. Burns addresses a Senate panel in March. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
6 min

CIA Director William J. Burns traveled in secret to Ukraine’s capital at the end of last week to brief President Volodymyr Zelensky on his expectations for what Russia is planning militarily in the coming weeks and months, said a U.S. official and other people familiar with the visit.

Burns’s travel comes at a critical juncture in the 11-month war. Russian forces are mounting a massive assault near the eastern city of Bakhmut that is causing many casualties on both sides and forcing Ukraine to weigh its resources there as it prepares a major counteroffensive elsewhere in the country.