CIA Director Bill Burns secretly visited Kyiv and briefed the Ukrainian president on U.S. expectations of Russia's battlefield plans this spring, CNN reported, citing a U.S. official and two Ukrainian sources.

Director Burns traveled to Kyiv, where he met with his Ukrainian intelligence colleagues as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and reiterated our continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, the U.S. official said in a statement.

The winter months saw fierce fighting on the front lines, particularly near the town of Bakhmut, but neither side made major strategic gains. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, called the situation not a stalemate, but a truly acute conflict at this stage, the statement noted.