US and Russia Clarify Information About Secret Deal

Washington and Moscow categorically deny recent reports by the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung that the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, allegedly made a secret visit to Moscow in January and offered Russia to gain one-fifth of Ukrainian territory to conclude the war.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung stated that Burns presented such a proposal to the Russian side on behalf of the White House.

Deputy spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, Sean Davitt, indicated that the publication does not correspond to reality.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, called the Swiss newspaper's publication a "fake." He stated, "In January? No, this did not happen; the entire article is a lie," said President Vladimir Putin's spokesman.

An anonymous high-ranking official of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency also denied the information and called it an "absolute fabrication."