Russia’s security service, the dreaded FSB, on Tuesday reacted for the first time to US President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv, saying it did not provide Washington with guarantees about the White House leader’s security during his presence in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Director of the FSB Oleksandr Bortnikov, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmytro Medvedev, Head of the DPR Denys Pushylin and Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Volodymyr Kolokoltsev.Photo: – / Sputnik / Profimedia

“The United States did not inform Russia through the diplomatic channel about Biden’s visit to Kyiv. We did not provide guarantees regarding his safety,” FSB director Oleksandr Bortnikov told TASS.

His comments came a day after Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, said the United States had told Russia that Joe Biden would travel to Kyiv hours before the US president’s departure.

“We informed the Russians that President Biden will go to Kyiv. I did this a few hours before he left to eliminate any risk. Because of the confidential nature of this information, I can’t say how they reacted or exactly what our message was, but I can confirm that we provided this information,” the US official said.

Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, his first visit to Ukraine in nearly 12 months since the Russian invasion began.

Not all Russian propagandists believe the version of the FSB

The visit of the US president to the Ukrainian capital caused horror and outrage among military bloggers and Russian military correspondents, many of whom sharply or with caustic irony criticized the fact that Joe Biden could come to Kyiv without hindrance.

Russian television also commented on the official visit: political scientist Sergey Markov, a former close adviser to President Vladimir Putin, suggested that Biden came to Kyiv only after Russia confirmed that it would not try to kill him in Ukraine.

“We are a civilized country, and Biden arrived in Kyiv – I am sure of this – because he received guarantees from the Russian side that he will not be hit while he is there,” he said on the air of the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

Markov, a former close adviser to Putin, attracted international media attention last September when he warned Britain of a nuclear threat live on BBC Radio 4.

“I would say that Vladimir Putin will convey that he will be ready to use nuclear weapons against Western countries, including Great Britain. Your cities will be targeted,” Markov said shortly after the speech in which Putin announced a decree on partial mobilization in Russia.

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