David Jackson

USA TODAY

The White House confirmed Monday that CIA Director John Brennan traveled to Kiev, Ukraine, in recent days as part of a longer trip to Europe.

Russian media reported Brennan's visit to Kiev this past weekend, raising suspicions about it.

Those suspicions are unwarranted, said White House spokesman Jay Carney, adding that Brennan was only meeting with intelligence counterparts in Ukraine.

White House spokesman Jay Carney made a statement about Brennan's visit:

"Well, we don't normally comment on the CIA director's travel, but given the extraordinary circumstances in this case, and the false claims being leveled by the Russians at the CIA, we can confirm that the director was in Kiev this weekend as part of a trip to Europe.

"Senior level visits of intelligence officials are a standard means of fostering mutually beneficial security cooperation, including U.S.-Russian intelligence collaboration going back to the beginnings of the post-Cold War era.

"U.S. and Russian intelligence officials have met over the years. To imply that U.S. officials meeting with their counterparts is anything other than in the same spirit is absurd."

From the Associated Press:

"Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych is accusing the CIA of being behind the new government's decision to turn to force. But the CIA denies that Brennan encouraged Ukrainian authorities to conduct tactical operations."