CIA Director William Burns met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss forthcoming Russian military steps last week, according to a report in The Washington Post Thursday.

“Director Burns traveled to Kyiv where he met with Ukrainian intelligence counterparts, as well as President Zelensky, and reinforced our continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” an unnamed US official said in a statement, referring to the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Burns’ second secret trip to Ukraine in about two months comes as the US is preparing a massive, $2.5 billion military aid package to Ukraine.

Stryker and other military vehicles are included, but Ukraine has pressed the West on a need to equip its fighters with tanks.

The US has decided to withhold sending tanks, leading to a disagreement with NATO ally Germany, which has conditioned sending its Leopard tanks on the US delivering M1 Abrams tanks.

Neither side has made significant gains in the winter as brutal fighting continues in the eastern country, much of it focused around the city of Bakhmut.

Source: Websites