“DO NOT STRIKE MOSCOW!”: The CIA asks Ukraine for safe passage
UATV English interview: on Washington asking Kyiv to hold off drone strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg until the CIA delegation had left Russian territory — a request Sampson calls the event of the year.
On 25 August, CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow. Before the trip, Washington officially asked Kyiv to refrain from drone strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg until the American delegation had left Russian territory.
Matthew Sampson calls that request the event of the year: three years ago nobody in Washington asked Kyiv’s permission to do business in Moscow — now they are forced to ask.
The 37-minute interview also covers battlefield flexibility and the lessons for the Pentagon, a joint US–Ukraine fund for UAV technology, the debate on mobilisation and training infrastructure, and historical parallels in the struggle for independence.
Description from the publisher, lightly condensed.