CIA director Burns to meet Russian counterpart in Turkey

By AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — CIA Director Bill Burns is to meet with his Russian intelligence counterpart to underscore the consequences if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. That’s according to a White House National Security Council official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official says Burns and Russian SVR spy agency head Sergey Naryshkin will not discuss settlement of the war in Ukraine during Monday’s meeting. Burns is expected to raise the cases of Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, who are detained in Russia. President Joe Biden says he and China’s President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their belief the threat of nuclear weapons is “totally unacceptable.”