Agencies: CIA Director Bill Burns acknowledged, in his first public comments since the leak of secret military documents, that the issue represents an urgent problem for the United States no less "severe than anything else" at the present moment.

Burns emphasized the importance of balancing short-term and long-term issues, and referred to the leak as an urgent problem being dealt with by American intelligence agencies.

The CIA Director indicated that the Department of Justice is currently investigating the leak and declined to elaborate further on his understanding of the issue.

The past few days have witnessed the leak of a number of classified files from the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon), some related to America’s policy with its enemies and allies, which sparked a wave of concern both inside and outside the United States.