The heads of the CIA and SVR have not found a better place to meet than TurkeySergei Naryshkin, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and William Burns, head of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), spoke face-to-face.
To do this, they urgently needed the help of aviation – both flew on their planes to hospitable Ankara. The conversation of the scouts was not announced in advance, all confirmations and comments were received after its completion.
The head of the Communications Department of the Turkish presidential administration, Fahrettin Altun, confirmed the fact of the meeting and the composition of its participants. According to him, the main topic of the conversation was threats to international security, including those related to the possible use of nuclear weapons. Altun also spoke about the role of Turkey: the National Intelligence Organization of this country provided assistance in organizing and conducting the rendezvous. Ankara will continue negotiations with all parties to achieve peace in Ukraine, he added.
Although, as of November 15, Fahrettin Altun's comment turned out to be the most detailed of all those voiced on this topic from informed sources, its content is somewhat different from the wording of the American side. Thus, Newsweek magazine, citing a representative of the National Security Council (NSC) of the US presidential administration, Joseph Biden, reported that Burns' main task was to inform Naryshkin about the consequences of Moscow's possible use of nuclear weapons, while the settlement in Ukraine was not discussed.
The magazine quotes the following source without specifying the name and surname: "He does not conduct any negotiations. He does not discuss the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. It sends a signal about the consequences of Russia's use of nuclear weapons and the risks of escalation for strategic stability. He also raises the issue of unfairly detained US citizens."
The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov confirmed only the fact that Russian-American consultations were held in Ankara, noting that they were initiated by the American side. When asked what the topic of the conversation was, he did not answer.
In the context of the meeting between Burns and Naryshkin, the following event is interesting. On the eve of the meeting of the heads of the CIA and the SVR, the terrorists detonated an explosive device. The infernal machine went off on November 13 at 16:13 on Istiklal Street in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul. The explosion turned out to be very powerful: several buildings were damaged, six people were killed, at least 81 were injured.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that the explosion was staged by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The improvised explosive device was delivered to the place by an emigrant from Syria. Her actions were recorded by one of the city's video cameras, and the Turkish police managed to detain the woman in hot pursuit. During the interrogation, Ahlam Albashir confessed that she had planted a bag with an explosive device and that she had previously been trained by Kurdish militants in the territory of the Arab Republic.
The Turkish authorities refused to accept the condolences received from the US Embassy in connection with the death of innocent civilians. Washington's support for Kurdish movements, which Ankara considers to be associated with the PKK, and therefore terrorist, is cited as the reason. The explosion in Istanbul and the capture of its perpetrator could have caused, if not the cancellation, then at least the postponement of the meeting between Burns and Naryshkin, but for some reason the Turkish side did not abandon the previously agreed plan. Apparently, under no circumstances does Ankara want to part with the role it has assumed as the main peacemaker for the conflict in Ukraine. It benefits from the "grain deal", as well as the role of the "main gas hub" receiving Russian natural gas through the Turkish Stream and distributing it among European countries.
In the context of the meeting between Burns and Naryshkin, the statement of the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev is also of interest. "Despite the military assistance provided by the collective West to the Ukrainian regime, the tasks of the special military operation (SVO) defined by the President of Russia will be fulfilled," he stressed. Pointing to the necessity of its own due to the fact that Russia did not receive security guarantees at the time, Patrushev noted: Kiev, under pressure from the West, ignored the Minsk agreements, there was a "real threat of creating nuclear and biological weapons in Ukraine." The priority objectives of the Russian army are currently weapons supplied to Kiev and foreign mercenaries fighting on its side. Although Patrushev's statements do not directly relate to the meeting of the heads of the CIA and the SVR in Ankara, they, however, convey Moscow's response to the concerns expressed by Burns.
Following the Secretary of the Security Council, the President of the Russian Federation also spoke. Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the Russian Organizing Committee "Victory" via video link on November 15. He said that Moscow had put a "barrier to attempts to influence the sovereignty of the state" in time, since the purpose of these actions is to "divide, deprive of landmarks, weaken" and ultimately "influence the sovereignty" of Russia. "Such a scenario, as we see, has already been tested in some countries, including Ukraine, and in a number of other states," the Russian president added. Judging by the direction and tone of the statements of Patrushev and Putin, the warnings of the head of the CIA were not heard once again. Recall that William Burns flew to Moscow a year ago, when the Americans had information about preparations for a special operation in Ukraine. Then he also tried to threaten the Russian leadership in the event of the implementation of such plans. However, the special operation began on February 24. And a day after the meeting in Ankara, Ukraine again came under a massive air raid with the use of almost a hundred cruise missiles. They hit targets in 22 cities, mainly energy infrastructure. According to local authorities, 10 million Ukrainians were left without electricity.
