Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy met US CIA chief John Ratcliffe at Shannon Airport in Co Clare, two people familiar with the matter said.
The meeting took place on Monday, one of the sources said. The other source said the pair spoke informally while their planes were being refuelled without specifying a date. Both sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, declined to disclose details of their conversation.
The meeting happened as Zelenskiy was travelling to New York to take part in the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Ratcliffe was on his way back from meeting Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, one source said.
Ratcliffe’s meeting with Zelenskiy comes less than a month since the CIA director travelled to Moscow to meet Russia’s top intelligence officials.
Neither Ratcliffe nor the CIA have publicly disclosed what was discussed in Moscow. One of the sources, who confirmed the Zelenskiy meeting to Reuters, said Ratcliffe had been in Moscow to discuss Ukraine, but they declined to elaborate.
The New York Times reported last month that Ratcliffe used his trip to share his bleak assessment of the state of the Russian war against Ukraine and to urge the Russians to cut a deal before their position weakens. – Reuters