Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe, during a visit to Moscow, warned Russian officials about the unacceptability of escalating the situation with the United States’ NATO allies. He was primarily referring to possible actions against the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
According to Politico, which cites its own sources, the main aim of the meeting was to convey to the Russian side that any steps that could lead to escalation against these states are unacceptable.
During the trip the head of the CIA also urged Russia to reduce military and economic support for Iran. This was reported by an unnamed source and a British official familiar with the meetings.
Earlier The Wall Street Journal wrote about John Ratcliffe‘s warnings regarding a possible Russian attack on NATO countries.
The U.S. President Donald Trump called the presence of the head of American intelligence in Moscow part of an “almost routine trip,” but suggested the visit could yield results.
“We would like the war in Ukraine to end,” said Donald Trump.
John Ratcliffe became the first CIA director in recent years whose visit to Moscow became publicly known. At the end of 2021, the then-director of the American agency, William Burns, warned Vladimir Putin about the consequences of a possible invasion of Ukraine. A few months later, Russia launched a full-scale war.
In recent weeks Moscow has repeatedly threatened NATO countries that support Ukraine. Against this background, Western officials fear new attempts by Russia to destabilize the situation in Alliance countries.
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