Former senior US diplomat Daniel Fried praised Washington’s reported decision to keep Kyiv informed before and after CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s secretive visit to Moscow this week.
“All I can say is that briefing Kyiv on both ends of the trip – if that is how it was – was an excellent idea,” Fried told Kyiv Post.
Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland and former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, was responding to reports that Washington coordinated with Ukraine over Ratcliffe’s meetings with senior Russian intelligence officials.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Kyiv had received information from the US about several meetings held in Moscow in recent days and indicated that Ukrainian officials had been in contact with Washington both before and afterward.
“We spoke the day before, and we spoke again now with the American side,” Zelensky said.
He thanked Washington for sharing the information and praised what he called the “necessary tone” of its talks with Moscow.
“We value the coordination of steps and the fact that America is advancing a quite realistic vision of what needs to be done,” Zelensky said. “Russia must end its war, and all conditions must be created for that to happen.”
Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday, Aug. 25, for talks with Russian intelligence officials in his first known visit to Russia as CIA director.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence representatives but said he did not meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin was later reportedly briefed on the discussions.
CBS News reported that Washington had informed Ukrainian officials ahead of the trip that a senior US delegation would be traveling to Moscow and asked Kyiv to suspend strikes until the delegation had left Russia.
The CIA chief reportedly raised the possibility of a Russian operation against a NATO member during the meetings, while Russia’s support for Iran was also discussed, according to one source.
Fried’s comments underscore the importance of Washington maintaining close coordination with Kyiv as the Trump administration conducts direct contacts with Moscow over issues that could have major consequences for Ukraine and European security.
Ratcliffe meets Russia’s spy chief
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergei Naryshkin confirmed Thursday that he met Ratcliffe in Moscow, describing their encounter as a “working-level meeting.”
The precise agenda has not been made public.
US President Donald Trump played down the trip as “semi-routine,” rejecting suggestions that Putin was preparing to attack NATO territory while suggesting the Moscow contacts could also support efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Why the Kyiv briefings matter
Washington’s coordination with Kyiv reduced the risk that the Kremlin could portray Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit as evidence of a separate US-Russian channel operating behind Ukraine’s back.
The post-trip briefing gave Ukrainian officials insight into what Washington had heard directly from the Russian side as speculation over possible peace negotiations continues.
Zelensky’s public response suggests Kyiv viewed the process positively.
In diplomacy conducted largely outside public view, the approach sends an important message: Washington may talk directly to Moscow, but Kyiv is not being sidelined when the discussions could affect Ukraine.