[theold]

A former career diplomat, Burns has been dispatched previously by the administration to sensitive posts in secret. He traveled to Moscow in November 2021 to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against invading Ukraine. In August of that year, as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan loomed, Burns also traveled to Kabul to meet with the Taliban's then-de facto leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar. 

He has also met repeatedly with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine, at times amid active bombardment by Russian forces. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cia-directo...00-10aaa3b