The leadership of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) warns against underestimating the plans and ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine.
"I would never underestimate President Putin's risk appetite when it comes to Ukraine. It is very important to respond to that with a mix of deterrence as well as the possibility of diplomacy," Bloomberg quotes CIA Director William Burns as saying.
He adds that it is not yet possible to say exactly what the Russian president is planning. The only thing that, according to the Head of the CIA, is clear is that he "has deployed the Russian armed forces and force structure where it is possible to act with a large scale."
Context. In early November, William Burns went to Russia on the instructions of President Joe Biden. His main goal, as the media reported at the time, was to inform the Kremlin that Washington was closely following Russia's actions on the Ukrainian border.
The other day WP reported that, according to American intelligence, the Russian Federation had planned a new invasion involving 175,000 troops. A new attack on Ukraine is expected to take place early next year. In addition to 100 battalion-tactical groups numbering about 175,000 people, the Kremlin plan also includes armored vehicles and artillery. The outlet sources explained the Russian Federation was concentrating troops on the Ukrainian border demanding guarantees from the North Atlantic Alliance that it would refuse further expansion to the east, in particular, will not support Ukraine joining NATO.
Recall: today, December 7, at 17:00 (Kyiv time), the first meeting since July between the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will take place. The main subject of the talks, according to the press service of the White House, will be Russia's military activity on the border with Ukraine. After that, Biden will have a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
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