CIA Director Bill Burns was in Kyiv on Tuesday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and his intelligence colleagues, a US official said, quoted by CNN, according to news.ro.

Burns was safe in the US embassy during Russian missile attacks across the country, including explosions that rocked the capital, a US official said.

Burns’ trip to Kyiv followed a meeting Monday in Ankara, Turkey, with his Russian intelligence counterpart Sergei Naryshkin — and is the CIA director’s second known visit to Kyiv in less than a month.

According to the official representative, Burns “discussed the US warning that he conveyed to the head of the Russian Defense Ministry not to use nuclear weapons, and reaffirmed the commitment of the US to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.”

The flurry of backlash came less than a week after Russia announced its withdrawal from the key Ukrainian city of Kherson and as a low-key debate began in Washington over whether to encourage Kyiv to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict. It also comes at a time when the US is increasingly concerned that Russia may resort to nuclear weapons in its ongoing war.

Burns and other US officials have said publicly that they see no evidence that Moscow is actively preparing to take such a step, but officials familiar with the intelligence have warned that the risk is perhaps the highest since the Russian invasion began in February .

On Tuesday, Russia launched more than 100 missiles at Ukraine, the largest attack since the February 24 invasion.

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