CIA played critical role in prisoner swap, US official says

The CIA worked for years through a channel with Russian intelligence, playing a critical role in Thursday’s U.S.-Russia prisoner swap, with Director Bill Burns and other agency officials directly involved in the negotiations, according to a U.S. official.

The latest exchange proposal was presented to Russian intelligence in a third country in late June. Burns was not present, and other CIA officials attended the meeting. In early July, the Russian side indicated in a call with Burns that it agreed in principle with the proposal. In mid-July, the text was formally accepted.

The US agent declined to name the third country, but Turkey’s intelligence service, known as MIT, set up “channels of dialogue” and organised the final meeting between intelligence officials ahead of Thursday’s exchange, according to the Turkish president’s office.

“The parties met in Turkey in July 2024 with the MIT organization, which effectively uses intelligence diplomacy,” the office said in a statement. “Negotiations were held on the exchange activity to be carried out between Russian citizens and citizens of Western countries imprisoned in the US, Germany, Poland, Norway, Slovenia, Russia and Belarus.”

“Just as all security measures, logistical planning and needs of the clearing activity were met by MIT, communication and coordination between the parties were also provided through MIT,” he added.

Bill Burns recently traveled to Turkey to discuss the swap with U.S. and Turkish officials, a senior administration official confirmed.

The massive US-Russia prisoner swap was a “logistical miracle” and the Turkish government was “extremely helpful,” the official said.

Turkey was chosen as a partner in this exchange because it has been involved in a number of negotiations involving Russia, such as the Black Sea grain initiative and the prisoner swap that freed Brittney Griner, the official said.