Axios reports Ratcliffe sounded out Russian intelligence on persuading Putin; both Ukraine and Russia said to be skeptical

CIA Director John Ratcliffe attends a House Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 19. [Yonhap·Reuters]
CIA Director John Ratcliffe attends a House Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 19. [Yonhap·Reuters]

The United States is pushing for a three-way summit among the leaders of the US, Russia and Ukraine to end the war in Ukraine, according to reports.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe recently made a secret visit to Russia to convey the proposal, Axios reported Saturday (local time). It marks the first time the head of a US intelligence agency has directly engaged in mediating peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

According to the report, Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday and met with Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), to propose a summit at which Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky would meet to discuss ending the war.

US administration officials briefed Zelensky on the conversation and the three-way summit proposal on Friday. The Trump administration had previously floated the idea of such a summit — Zelensky had agreed at the time, but Putin had avoided committing to it, Axios said.

The New York Times reported that during his Moscow visit, Ratcliffe urged Bortnikov to begin peace negotiations before it was too late, warning of mounting losses as the battlefield situation deteriorated. Sources told the paper that Ratcliffe views Bortnikov as a key figure in relaunching the diplomatic process. Putin, a former KGB officer, is widely seen as placing particular trust in Bortnikov, who leads the FSB — the KGB's successor agency.

Earlier, three rounds of trilateral working-level negotiations brokered by the Trump administration were held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Geneva, Switzerland, in January and February, but follow-up talks stalled after the US-Israeli war against Iran broke out in late February. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who led those negotiations, have drawn criticism for being seen as pro-Russia; Ratcliffe, by contrast, is regarded as a Russia hawk.

The three-way summit proposal has met with skepticism not only from Putin but also from the Ukrainian side, according to reports. Axios said Ukraine is proceeding cautiously, citing intelligence about the possibility that Putin could escalate the conflict. Pavlo Palisa, deputy chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidential office, said Friday that Putin had ordered preparations for scenarios involving an offensive in northern Ukraine, identifying Kyiv and Chernihiv as key targets.


psj@heraldcorp.com