CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with the leader of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency and the head of Russia’s internal security agency, according to a new report.

Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russian foreign intelligence service SVR, has been prohibited from coming into the U.S. since 2014 after sanctions for Russia’s destabilizing efforts in Ukraine were put in place. Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s internal intelligence service FSB, faces sanctions from the European Union.

Pompeo issued a letter Thursday to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., claiming he and others met with the Russians “to keep Americans safe” as those before him have done, a U.S. official told CNN.

Pompeo said that, "while Russia remains an adversary, we would put American lives at greater risk if we ignored opportunities to work with the Russian services in the fight against terrorism."

Pompeo also asserted that without these types of meetings, “we cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interests do not align.”

“We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches — we never will,” he wrote.

But Schumer, whose staff was informed about the meetings and the legal process on Tuesday, condemned Pompeo, saying the meeting was “a serious national security issue.”

“If this administration is ignoring sanctions, that’s very serious,” Schumer told CNN, adding that Pompeo did not directly admit he had met with his Russian counterparts. “Director Pompeo’s refusal to answer that question is deeply troubling.

Pompeo did not meet with the leader of the Russian military intelligence agency that attempted to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election though, the official said.

The CIA did not respond to a media request from the Washington Examiner at the time of publication.

News of the meeting was posted on social media by the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

"It is no accident the Russians announced this meeting," the US official told CNN. "The target was sowing discord in U.S."

Special counsel Robert Muller, along with several other congressional committees, are conducting probes to determine if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.