New Delhi: US Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo has defended talks he had at CIA headquarters last week with Russian spy chiefs at a time of strained ties between Washington and Moscow and political bickering over allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.
A US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Moscow of disclosing the visit partly to fuel political discord in Washington over investigations of a Russian interference campaign that is rankling President Donald Trump and some of his fellow Republicans.
The US Senate's top Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on Jan. 31 asking why US intelligence officials met with Sergey Naryshkin, the head of Russia's foreign intelligence agency, known as the SVR.
"We periodically meet with our Russian intelligence counterparts for the same reason our predecessors did - to keep Americans safe," Pompeo replied to Schumer in a letter made public on Thursday. There is nothing "untoward" about such meetings, Pompeo said.
"We cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interests do not align," Pompeo said. "We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches - we never will."
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment on the meetings.
The Russian officials' visit was made public on Tuesday by the state-run ITAR-Tass news agency and the Russian ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonovtweeted the report.
Pompeo's reply to Schumer failed to satisfy the senator.
"This letter is responsive to approximately none of the questions that were raised about these visits," Schumer's spokesman, Matt House, wrote on Twitter.
Moscow denies the conclusions of US intelligence agencies that it led a hacking campaign of political party networks and spread disinformation to help Trump in his presidential campaign. Congressional panels and a special counsel are investigating. Trump denies any campaign collusion with Russian officials.
Among other questions, Schumer asked how Naryshkin was able to enter the United States because he is under US sanctions barring him from the country. Naryshkin was blacklisted in 2014 as part of the US response to Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine