Russia’s foreign spy chief confirms he held talks with CIA director in Moscow

Sergei Naryshkin, ‌the head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence ‌service, said on Thursday that he had held ​a “working-level meeting” with CIA director John Ratcliffe in Moscow earlier this week and ​that they had discussed unspecified and sensitive ⁠matters falling within the remit of their ‌respective ‌intelligence ​services.Naryshkin said the fact that they had ⁠met was ​nothing unusual. US president Donald ​Trump has described Ratcliffe’s visit – which ‌came as the ​war in Ukraine drags on and ⁠as efforts ⁠to reach ​a lasting peace between the United States and Iran have stalled – as “semi-routine”. At least two ‌US media ⁠outlets have cited their own sources as saying Ratcliffe warned ‌Russia not to attack any Nato ​member state. Neither Washington nor ​Moscow has confirmed that. Asked ‌to ‌comment ​on the reports on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A lot ⁠of ​this kind of ​scare-story material is being published ‌right now. Of course, ​it has nothing to do ⁠with reality and ⁠nothing ​to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation.”– Reuters[ Europe's Borders series: The Estonian city that fears it is next on Putin's listOpens in new window ][ Europe's Borders series: Finland prepares for the unthinkableOpens in new window ]