WASHINGTON – CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Thursday defended the practice ofmeeting with Russian spy chiefs, following reports that top U.S.intelligence officials last week met a Kremlin spymaster who is under U.S.sanctions.
“We periodically meet with our Russian intelligence counterparts for thesame reason our predecessors did – to keep Americans safe,” Pompeo said ina letter to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. There is nothing”untoward” about such meetings, he said.
“We cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interestsdo not align,” Pompeo said.
“We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches – wenever will.”
Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, held talksoutside Washington last week with Director of National Intelligence DanCoats and other U.S. officials, two U.S. sources said. Naryshkin wassanctioned in 2014 as part of the U.S. response to Russia’s annexation ofCrimea.