CIA Director William Burns met in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the end of last week to discuss what Russia would be planning for the coming weeks and months, according to information published on by the American daily The Washington Post, quoted by DPA and Agerpres .

The paper cites US officials and anonymous informed sources. The publication, citing people familiar with the meeting who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said Zelensky and others in Ukraine’s government were most concerned about how long their country could wait for US and Western support amid the takeover the control of the House of Representatives by the Republicans and the decrease in public support for aid among part of the American electorate.

Burns, former ambassador to Russia, emphasized „the urgency of the moment on the battlefield”, but communicated that „at some point, assistance would be more difficult to obtain”.

Sources told the American newspaper that Zelensky and his advisers got the impression from the discussions that the US administration still strongly supports the $45 billion in emergency funds approved by Congress last December. This is expected to last until July or August.

Ukrainians are less certain that another multibillion-dollar additional aid package will pass, as Congress did last spring. The newspaper reported that a major Russian assault near the eastern city of Bahmut also forced Ukraine to assess its resources.

Agerpres