CIA Director William Burns is said to have met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukrainian intelligence officials in Kyiv last week.
This is reported unanimously by the Washington Post and American news agencies, citing US government officials.
During his visit, Burns emphasized Washington's "continued support for Ukraine" during the war and informed Zelenskyy about American findings on Russia's further military plans.
The CIA director had repeatedly briefed the Ukrainian president before and since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February, passing on information from US intelligence agencies about Moscow's war plans and intentions.
According to the Washington Post, the talks are now also about whether American support for Ukraine is at risk in the future because of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
Burns therefore admitted that it could at least become more difficult to organize US aid.
Billions in new military aid
For the time being, however, nothing will change: On Thursday evening (Washington time), the US government promised Ukraine additional military aid worth billions.
The US Department of Defense announced a package worth about 2.5 billion US dollars (2.3 billion euros).
According to the Pentagon, it contains 59 Bradley armored personnel carriers and, for the first time, 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers – but no Abrams main battle tanks.
It is the second largest single package of its kind to date. The announcement comes shortly before the meeting of a US-led coalition at the US air base in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate, where defense ministers and senior military officials from numerous countries will discuss further support for the advised on Ukraine attacked by Russia.
According to the ministry, the delivery of American Abrams main battle tanks does not currently make sense.
The Abrams requires different fuel than the Leopard 2 or Challenger 2 main battle tanks and is expensive to maintain, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Thursday.
The Abrams had been discussed after it was reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had made the delivery of the US battle tank a condition for a possible dispatch of German battle tanks.
With the new package, the US has provided or pledged more than $27.4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of President Joe Biden's administration, according to the US Department of Defense, more than $26.7 billion of which since the start of the Russian war of aggression at the end of February.
The United States is considered Ukraine's most important ally in the defense against the Russian invasion.
Selenskyj wants "strong decisions" in Ramstein
President Zelenskyy emphasized that his government expects a lot from the Ramstein meeting.
"We expect strong decisions," he said in a video speech on Thursday evening.
Selenskyj has repeatedly stated in the past few days that his country's main need is for battle tanks.
"The Ukrainians are expecting a real breakthrough in the delivery of the most modern weapons systems from the Ramstein summit," Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk told the editorial network Germany.
"The biggest request to the traffic light government for the Ramstein meeting would be that Germany not only end its strange blockade of the Leopard tanks, but show true leadership and form a powerful tank coalition for Ukraine."