CIA director visited Russia to urge Moscow to not attack NATO
It is thought that any such assault would most likely be on a Baltic nation
CIA director John Ratcliffe visited Russia to urge Moscow not to attack a NATO country, amid reports that the superpower is considering a limited assault, according to people briefed on the trip.
Listen to this article
Mr Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials while in the capital, but did not meet with President Vladimir Putin, in what US President Donald Trump has called a "semi-routine" trip.
The Wall Street Journal, reporting on the details of the visit, said that US intelligence believes that Putin is considering testing the resolve of NATO with a limited assault which could include a cyberattack or a small-scale land invasion.
It is thought that any such assault would most likely be on a Baltic nation.
Read more: Ukraine offers Brits 'wartime lessons' on protecting infrastructure and civilians from Russia
Read more: US government announces sanctions against Palestine Action
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Putin had been briefed on the outcome of Tuesday's visit, which came as the war in Ukraine drags on and as efforts to reach a lasting peace between the United States and Iran have stalled.
Peskov declined to say what had been discussed or to provide any further details.
"All I can tell you is that there have been contacts via the security services. I can tell you that there have been no meetings with the Russian president. Naturally, President Putin is kept informed of everything without delay," said Peskov.
Trump, in a radio interview on Wednesday, did not say specifically why Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow but said it could prove useful.
"Now something may come ... out of it. We're working very hard to get that war ended," Trump told the Glenn Beck Program, referring to the war in Ukraine.
Asked whether the CIA chief went to Moscow to discuss potential Russian action to test the NATO military alliance or to discuss Iran sanctions, Trump added: "None of the above. He's there, you know, very sort of semi-routine."
The last known visit by a US CIA director to the Russian capital took place when Ratcliffe's predecessor William Burns held talks with Putin in November 2021, three months after the war in Ukraine began.
Asked if visits by such senior US officials could help improve the dire state of US-Russia relations, Peskov said that contacts between the two countries' intelligence agencies were a positive thing.
"These contacts often continue even during the most difficult periods in bilateral relations. Our president, incidentally, has spoken about this. However, it is still too early to say to what extent this will, overall, help to steer our bilateral relations out of the profound crisis in which they currently find themselves," he said.