CIA directeur Ratcliffe halsoverkop naar Moskou: Val de NAVO niet aan

quote:

CIA Chief’s Surprise Moscow Trip Was to Warn Russia Not to Attack NATO
Warning comes after new U.S. intelligence assessments indicated Russian president could launch a limited assault

The surprise visit by the director of the Central Intelligence Agency to Moscow this week was to deliver a warning to Russia not to attack NATO countries, according to people briefed on the visit.

The trip was spy-agency chief John Ratcliffe’s first publicly known visit to the Russian capital. It followed new U.S. intelligence assessments, reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test the resolve of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with a limited assault on an allied country in the next few years.

U.S. officials are concerned that Putin, squeezed in Ukraine and under pressure at home, could launch an assault ranging from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion, likely on a Baltic nation, the Journal reported.

A shortfall in critical Western munitions, driven by expenditures in the Iran war, also could factor into Putin’s thinking. The U.S. has degraded its stockpile of certain weapons because of transfers to Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion, as well as the Iran conflict.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials during his time in the Russian capital, but he didn’t meet with Putin. Putin was briefed on the talks, Peskov said.

The White House has offered little clarity about the Ratcliffe trip. During an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck on Wednesday, President Trump described the trip as “semi-routine” and pivoted to discussing Russia’s war with Ukraine. “Something may come out of it,” Trump said. “We’re working very hard to get that war ended and frankly they both want to see it ended at this point.”

A spokeswoman for the White House referred reporters to Trump’s Wednesday comments. A spokeswoman for the CIA declined to comment.

Ratcliffe, one of Trump’s closest aides, was the latest U.S. official to make the trip to Moscow following several visits by Steve Witkoff, a U.S. envoy for Ukraine-Russia peace talks.

The trip was a rare visit by a U.S. spy-agency chief with the Russia-Ukraine war now in its fifth year. The last known visit by a CIA director to Moscow was in November 2021, when William Burns, who led the agency under former President Joe Biden, warned Putin not to attack Ukraine.

quote:

CIA chief used Moscow visit to warn Russia against attacks on NATO allies, helping Iran
John Ratcliffe urged Russia to hold back from striking Baltic nations and to reduce its support to Iran during his brief trip to the Russian capital.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russian officials in Moscow this week not to escalate conflict with America’s NATO allies, in particular Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in response to Moscow’s stalemated invasion of Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. spy chief also used the rare, unannounced trip to the Russian capital on Tuesday to press Russia to reduce military and economic support for Iran, according to one of those two people and a U.K. official with knowledge of the trip.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russian officials in Moscow this week not to escalate conflict with America’s NATO allies, in particular Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in response to Moscow’s stalemated invasion of Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. spy chief also used the rare, unannounced trip to the Russian capital on Tuesday to press Russia to reduce military and economic support for Iran, according to one of those two people and a U.K. official with knowledge of the trip.

All three people were granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

News of Ratcliffe’s trip to Russia, which the administration did not officially acknowledge until this morning, had sparked rampant speculation in Washington and Europe because it marked the first such known trip to the Russian capital by a CIA director under President Donald Trump. In late 2021, then-President Joe Biden’s spy chief, Bill Burns, warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against invading Ukraine. Russian forces stormed across the border three months later.

Ratcliffe’s visit comes as Russia and Ukraine have exchanged an intensifying series of drone and missile strikes miles beyond the front lines of the fighting. Russia has also issued a series of threats in recent weeks against NATO countries that support Ukraine, sparking fear that Moscow could pursue newly aggressive hybrid warfare measures or limited military action against NATO allies, including the U.K.

His “meeting was primarily to warn Russia against any escalatory action against the Baltic states,” said the first person familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Wednesday that Ratcliffe warned against attacking NATO countries during his visit, without further details.

A spokesperson for the White House referred POLITICO to comments Trump made earlier Wednesday.

In a radio interview this morning, Trump denied speculation that Ratcliffe made the trip to persuade Putin not to test NATO’s resolve or attack the U.K., which this week vowed to double down on its support for Ukraine. Trump called the visit “semi-routine,” but he acknowledged it was about bringing the war to a close. “I hate to disappoint people. We would like to see the war with Ukraine end,” he said.

The CIA did not respond to a request for comment.