Zelenskyy says US briefed Ukraine on recent Moscow meetings

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States had briefed Kyiv on a series of recent meetings in Moscow, praising Washington for coordinating with Ukraine and taking what he described as a realistic approach toward ending Russia’s war.In his evening video address Friday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had been in contact with the US both before and after the meetings, which he said took place in Moscow “the other day.”“Thank you for the information — and for the necessary tone of the conversation with Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “We value the alignment of steps and the fact that America is advancing a realistic vision of what needs to be done and what must be achieved.”“Russia must end its war, and all the necessary conditions must be created to make that happen,” he added.Zelenskyy did not identify those who participated in the meetings or provide details about the discussions.His comments came after the Kremlin confirmed Wednesday that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had visited Moscow a day earlier, marking the first visit by a CIA chief to the Russian capital since 2021.The Kremlin said the visit involved contacts between security services and described such engagement as a “positive phenomenon” and a “positive process.”Reports of Ratcliffe’s visit emerged after a US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III flew from Riga, Latvia, to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Tuesday morning, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.The aircraft had arrived in Riga two days earlier from Camp Springs in the United States, near Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. It departed Moscow and returned to Riga later Tuesday.US President Donald Trump on Wednesday described Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow as “semi-routine.”A day later, Trump said he had held “good talks” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed confidence that Russia would not attack NATO territory.Asked at the White House whether Putin had committed not to attack NATO territory, Trump said: “He’s not going to be attacking a NATO territory.”When asked whether he wanted to issue a warning to Russia against such an attack, Trump said: “I don’t want to comment on that, but they’re not going to attack.”