Sullivan said that Patrushev and Burns discussed Ukraine a year ago.

Former US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan, who was present at a meeting between Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev and CIA Director William Burns in 2021, said that the parties discussed Ukraine and allegedly the start of a special military operation “was a foregone conclusion” even then.

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“Patrushev didn’t elaborate on that… He just looked at Burns and said, ‘We can do it. We are back.” I would describe it this way: the decision on (special military operation in Ukraine – ed.) had already been made, and they were extremely confident in themselves. His message was: “It will not be a problem for us to do what what we want to do,” Sullivan quoted Patrushev in an interview with the New York Times, who reacted to Burns’ words that Western countries would respond “strongly and unitedly” if hostilities began in Ukraine.