The director of US intelligence talks about a “Russian loophole” before the war

The director of the CIA, William Burns, spoke regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine, following entering its second year, on the twenty-fourth of February, pointing to what he considered a “Russian loophole” because of the decision-making method in the Kremlin, he said.

Burns, who previously held the position of US ambassador to Moscow, said that the biggest Russian loophole in his view was that the limited number of officials who were around President Vladimir Putin were telling him what they wanted to hear, not what was actually on the ground.

He added, in an interview with the famous program “Face the Nation”, that he had followed closely for years, especially in recent years, how the circle of advisors around Putin narrowed, to include a limited number of those who provide advice.

He added that the officials surrounding Putin preferred to offer loyalty over competence, saying that they realized with the passage of time that it was not in the interest of their professional and political path to subject Putin’s positions to discussion or to make them questionable.

“This, in my opinion, was the biggest loophole,” said the intelligence official, who had previously held a number of high-ranking diplomatic positions.

And he added that before the start of military operations in Ukraine, this was the case, saying that the officials of this narrow circle around Putin were supporting “false assumptions” of each other.

Burns also touched on the trip he made to Kiev before the start of the war, in order to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, and to inform him of the latest intelligence that Washington had on the movements of the Russians.

He stated that he had informed the Ukrainians regarding “Russia’s arrangement of an attack, which I thought would be a surprise from Belarus, in order to control Kiev within days.”