WASHINGTON, JAN 31 (DNA) – Russia’s foreign spy chief — who is under US sanctions — met last week outside Washington with US intelligence officials, two US sources said, confirming a disclosure that intensified political infighting over probes into Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US election.

Sergey Naryshkin — the head of the Russian service known by its acronym SVR — held talks with US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and other US intelligence officials, the sources said. The sources did not reveal the topics discussed.

A Russian Embassy tweet disclosed Naryshkin’s visit.

It cited a state-run ITAR-Tass news report that quoted Anatoly Antonov — Russia’s ambassador to Washington — as telling Rossiya-1 television that Naryshkin and his US counterparts discussed the “joint struggle against terrorism”.

Antonov did not identify the US intelligence officials with whom he met.

The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment. Coats’ office said that while it does not discuss US intelligence officials’ schedules, “any interaction with foreign intelligence agencies would have been conducted in accordance with US law and in consultation with appropriate departments and agencies.”