CIA Director visited Ukraine over the weekend: White House

CIA Director John Brennan was in Ukraine over the weekend, the White House acknowledged today as Russia asked the US to explain his visit to the Ukrainian capital.
"We don't normally comment on the CIA Director's travel, but given the extraordinary circumstances in this case and the false claims being leveled by the Russians at the CIA, we can confirm that the Director was in Kiev this weekend as part of a trip to Europe," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, told reporters at his daily news conference.
Carney said senior-level visits of intelligence officials are a standard means of fostering mutually beneficial security cooperation, including US-Russian intelligence collaboration going back to the beginnings of the post-Cold War era.

"US and Russian intelligence officials have met over the years. To imply that US officials meeting with their counterparts is anything other than in the same spirit is absurd," the White House Press Secretary said.
The US, he said, is very concerned about Russian actions in Ukraine, attempts to destabilise Ukraine.
"We're concerned about the many thousands of troops, Russian troops, that remain on the Ukrainian border. We're concerned about provocative actions assisted by or sponsored by Russia that are taking place in eastern Ukraine. And we continue to commend the Ukrainian government in the restraint that they have shown in handling a difficult situation," he said in response to a question.

The Obama Administration, he said, is actively evaluating what is happening in eastern Ukraine, what actions Russia has taken, what transgressions they've engaged in.

"We are working with our partners and assessing for ourselves what response we may choose. But I don't have an announcement at this time when it comes to further sanctions," he said.
"As part of the assessment, we'll make judgments, in coordination with our partners, about what further actions to take. But I can assure you that Russia's further transgressions and provocations will come with a cost," the White House Press Secretary warned.
"I'm not here to specify what costs will come from which specific action, but there have already been costs imposed on Russia. There will be further cost imposed on Russia. And certainly if they go further down the road of attempting to destabilize Ukraine rather than choosing the path of de-escalation, that the costs will continue to grow," Carney told reporters.