Citing its customary anonymous xe2x80x98sourcesxe2x80x99, the newspaper allegedxc2xa0that CIA Director William Burns brought the issue up earlier this month during meetings in Moscow with Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council, and Sergey Naryshkin, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Havana Syndrome is an unexplained illness that has been reported by multiple US government officials and military personnel stationed abroad. The symptoms include hearing loud noises, pain in the ears, and cognitive difficulties. While the first case was detected in Cuba, others have been reported in many other countries around the world, including China and Germany. Burns has publicly described the incidents as xe2x80x9cattacksxe2x80x9d and suspects a foreign adversary is responsible.

According to The Washington Post, Burns told Russian officials that inflicting serious brain damage on Americans was beyond the scope of what is permissible for a xe2x80x9cprofessional intelligence service.xe2x80x9d He did not, however, directly accuse Russia of being involved.

This isnxe2x80x99t the first suggestion that Moscow is behind Havana Syndrome. In August, Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Alexander Bikantov denied any Russian link to the incidents after it was implicated in a story published in The New Yorker.

xe2x80x9cWe believe it to be low and morally wrong to initiate anti-Russian speculation by pointing at someonexe2x80x99s bad health,xe2x80x9d Bikantov said. xe2x80x9cIt is clear that the Western tabloidsxe2x80x99 love for conspiracy theories is ineradicable.xe2x80x9d

Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed that Burns spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting they discussed xe2x80x9cbilateral relationsxe2x80x9d and engaged in xe2x80x9can exchange of opinions on regional conflicts.xe2x80x9d Peskov did not mention Havana Syndrome.

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