CIA director says Putin is 'not serious about negotiations' in Ukraine war

The CIA assesses that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not serious about negotiations at this stage” of the war in Ukraine and it is “Ukrainian progress on the battlefield that is most likely to shape prospects for diplomacy” to end the ongoing conflict, CIA Director Bill Burns said on Tuesday.

Speaking publicly for the first time, at Rice University, since leaked classified US military documents appeared online, Burns stressed the importance of Ukraine’s planned offensive, saying “a great deal is at stake in the coming months.”

The CIA director specifically mentioned that Ukraine continues to defend the Donbas region, which one of the leaked intelligence documents says is likely heading for a stalemate.

“Real countries fight back,” Burns said on Tuesday, adding that Ukraine and its president have done just that. “Putin was profoundly mistaken” in his assumptions about Ukraine before the war, Burns added.

Burns emphasized the importance of continued US support for Ukraine, including through intelligence sharing, at a time when the leaked classified documents are raising questions about the administration’s view of the conflict.

The CIA director made these statements at Rice University, where he's discussing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s aggressive posturing, Iran’s nuclear enrichment and other pressing foreign policy issues at school’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, according to the school's website.

CIA Director Bill Burns said Tuesday he expects more nuclear saber rattling from Russia as its war in Ukraine continues, but his agency does not “see evidence of preparations for any potential use of nuclear weapons.”

Burns said the CIA does not see any “significant change in nuclear deployments by Russian leadership."

He also said the leak of classified military documents represents an urgent problem for the US that is “as intense as anything” in the current moment.

Burns — stressing the importance of balancing both short-term and long-term issues — specifically pointed to the leak as an immediate problem the US intelligence agencies are grappling with.

The CIA director noted that the Justice Department is currently investigating the leak and declined to elaborate further on his understanding of the issue.

Burns made these statements at Rice University Tuesday, where he's discussing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s aggressive posturing, Iran’s nuclear enrichment and other pressing foreign policy issues at school’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, according to the school's website.

The highly classified leaked Pentagon documents posted to social media offer a pessimistic US view of the war's progress in Ukraine.

The documents highlight flaws in Ukraine's weaponry and air defenses and predict a stalemate in the war for months to come.

The documents, which appear to date from February and March, detail many of Ukraine's perceived military shortfalls as Kyiv prepares for a spring counteroffensive against Russia. 

Several of the classified documents warn Ukraine's medium-range air defenses to protect front-line troops will be "completely reduced by May 23," suggesting Russia could soon have aerial superiority and Ukraine could lose the ability to amass ground forces in a counteroffensive. 

The documents also underscore lingering problems with Russia's own military offensive, predicting that the result will be a stalemate between the two sides for the foreseeable future.

Officials familiar with the situation tell CNN the documents appear to be part of a daily intelligence briefing deck prepared for the Pentagon's senior leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. 

The leaking of the documents — many of which are marked top secret — represents a major national security breach, and the Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into who may have leaked them while the Pentagon is investigating how the leak impacts US national security.

In addition to the assessment of the Ukraine war, the documents include intelligence gathered on allies and adversaries alike.

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Russia successfully conducted a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. 

The launch from the Kapustin Yar test range in the Astrakhan region was part of testing on next-generation ICBM combat equipment, the defense ministry reports. 

"On April 11, 2023, a Strategic Missile Forces combat crew conducted a successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Kapustin Yar state central joint forces test range in the Astrakhan region," the statement said.

The launch helped confirm the correctness of schematic and structural and technical solutions used in developing new strategic missile systems the defense ministry said. The missile's test warhead hit the target at the Sary Shagan firing range (Republic of Kazakhstan) with the target accuracy, according to the statement.

Back in February, Russia carried out a test of an ICBM that appears to have failed around the time President Joe Biden was in Ukraine, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.

CNN's Oren Liebermann and Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia’s failure to grant consular access to wrongfully detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich “puts it, once again, in violation of international commitments it’s made."

“I think it sends a very strong message to people around the world to beware of even setting foot there, lest they be arbitrarily detained,” he said.

Blinken noted that he had designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained Monday, and reiterated that he called on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to immediately grant consular access and release the detained journalist.

Blinken did say what measures are being taken to free Gershkovich, only saying that the US is “engaged every single day in pressing for that access as well as pressing for Evan’s release.”

There was no physical damage to Canadian energy infrastructure after leaked US intelligence documents appeared to show that Russian hackers were attempting to cause damage to pipelines earlier this year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Tuesday.

Trudeau is hosting Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, in Toronto for an official visit where Canada announced more military and humanitarian aid for the country. 

Trudeau also confirmed that his government website was down after a denial of service attack Tuesday morning. The website appeared to be functioning normally by 2:30 p.m. ET after being down for several hours. 

In February, Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE), which oversees Canada’s foreign intelligence and cybersecurity, issued an alert warning.

CSE said it would not confirm or deny any specific cyberattacks for security reasons.

Canada pledged another $2.4 billion (CDN) loan to Ukraine to support essential services, such as pension payments, purchasing fuel and restoring damaged energy infrastructure. This funding will be distributed through an IMF facility and brings Canada’s total contribution in this regard to about $8 billion (CDN).

Canada also signed a major nuclear supply contract to provide for Ukraine’s uranium needs to fuel its nuclear generators until 2035.

The United States has “engaged with allies and partners at high levels” in the days since the leak of classified documents came to light “to reassure them about our own committed to safeguarding intelligence and, of course, our commitment to our security partnerships,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a news conference at the State Department, Blinken noted that he had spoken Tuesday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and emphasized: “our enduring support for Ukraine and for its efforts to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty, its independence, reaffirmed the extraordinary support that we have provided to Ukraine along with dozens of other countries.”

The top US diplomat said he would not comment specifically on the “purported documents” when asked about a report that documents showed Ukraine had engaged in attacks outside of its territory.

However, Blinken noted that “Ukraine has to make decisions about how it can most effectively defend itself against Russian aggression and take back the territory that's been seized from it.”

The leak of classified Pentagon documents is being taken very seriously, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday.

Austin added that the Defense Department will “turn over every rock until we find the source” of the leaked intelligence documents. 

Austin said the documents they are aware of are dating February 28 and March 1, and that they do not know if there are “other documents” that had been posted. 

“Again,” he said, “we will continue to investigate in and try to determine the full scope of the activity.”

Austin said that he was first briefed on the “unauthorized disclosure” of documents on April 6 and has been convening senior leaders daily since then.

More background: Highly classified Pentagon documents leaked online in recent weeks have provided a rare window into how the US spies on allies and foes alike, deeply rattling US officials, who fear the revelations could jeopardize sensitive sources and compromise important foreign relationships.

Many of the documents, which US officials say are authentic, had markings indicating that they had been produced by the Joint Staff's intelligence arm, known as J2, and appear to be briefing documents.

CNN’s Celine Alkhaldi and Mostafa Salem contributed to this report.

The White House says it has no indication Egypt is providing Russia with deadly arms for its war in Ukraine. 

A leaked US intelligence document obtained by the Washington Post indicated Egypt’s military was planning to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia. It said that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi instructed officials to keep production and shipment secret "to avoid problems with the West."

Kirby said Egypt remained “a significant security partner” and would remain so.

“The United States military has a longstanding defense relationship with Egypt that goes back many, many years,” he said, speaking to reporters on board Air Force One. 

The February-dated “top secret document” purported conversations between Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials referencing plans to supply Russia with artillery and gunpowder, and to keep the plans a secret, the Washington Post said.

CNN has not seen the document cited by the Washington Post and is not able to confirm its authenticity.

An Egyptian official, unnamed by state-affiliated media, called the Washington Post report “informational absurdity” and said that Egypt follows a “balanced policy” with all international parties, Al Qahera News, a state-affiliated media outlet said. The statement was carried by several Egyptian state-affiliated news outlets.

Kirby refused to confirm the validity of the document and declined to detail any diplomatic conversations between Washington and Cairo.