Putin in my experience had always had a singular fixation on Ukraine.
I was very strongly of the view that this time he was likely to want to invade.
His message was kind of "so what are you going to do about it?"
Few people know how to handle America's adversaries like Bill Burns.
He was one of America's most respected diplomats.
Six presidents have tasked him with handling some of the thorniest problems in foreign policy.
He spent four years leading the Central Intelligence Agency,
including when they warned the world of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
I sat down with him in Washington, D.C.
to discuss the state of the world and the future of American spycraft.
Ambassador Bill Burns, Bill, welcome to Inside Defense.
"It's a pleasure to be with you."
Thanks so much for the time.
Can I start in the middle of the story?
Can I take you back to November 2021?
You are director of the agency, you have in your possession this exquisite intelligence
showing Russian intentions towards Ukraine, the plans for invasion,
and you're in Moscow, you're talking to Vladimir Putin over the phone, I understand, not face-to-face.
And you've talked about it before, you've said, you know,
he's unapologetic, he's got a good poker face, a good poker voice.