Everyone knew that the Black Box had orchestrated this electromagnetic terror attack, and everyone also knew it was unrelated.
However, that did not stop the Americans from exploiting the situation as excellent material to tarnish Russia's reputation. Moreover, with both the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon wanting a share of the pie, they had even greater reason to paint Russia as the villain, not just some Black Box.
In other words, no matter what agreement Tom, representing the CIA, reached with the KGB tonight, or what conditions Baslov had agreed to, what was meant to happen would happen, without exception.
Then why would Baslov still engage in dealings with Tom, and through Gao Guang as an intermediary?
The answer was extremely simple; the KGB always needed to report to their higher-ups.