WASHINGTON — CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a three-way meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a covert visit to Moscow earlier this week, Axios reported Saturday.The visit was also intended to assess whether senior Russian intelligence officials could help persuade Putin to move toward resuming US-mediated negotiations with Ukraine, according to sources cited by Axios.US officials briefed Zelenskyy on Friday about Ratcliffe’s talks in Moscow and the proposed summit.The Trump administration has previously floated the possibility of bringing the three leaders together. Zelenskyy has supported the idea, while Putin has so far rejected it.Trump told Axios that Ratcliffe’s trip was “standard business” and was not aimed at warning Russia against a possible attack on NATO territory.The New York Times separately reported that Ratcliffe delivered what it described as a “bleak assessment” of the war to Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, and urged Moscow to reach an agreement before its position deteriorated further.Sources told Axios that Ratcliffe viewed Bortnikov as a potentially constructive interlocutor who could help revive diplomatic efforts.Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, said Thursday that US-mediated talks with Russia could resume in September, according to media reports.