CIA director’s unannounced Moscow trip sparks a clash over a NATO warning

Trump on Thursday downplayed the prospects of Russia attacking NATO territory and declined to say whether Ratcliffe had issued such a warning to Putin.

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Ratcliffe’s trip this week was the first known visit by a senior Trump administration official to Moscow in months.

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CIA Director John Ratcliffe also used the trip, which wasn’t announced publicly, to encourage Russia to cut off economic and military support for Iran as the administration works to choke off Tehran financially.

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Trump on Thursday downplayed the prospects of Russia attacking NATO territory and declined to say whether Ratcliffe had issued such a warning to Putin.

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“I don’t want to comment on that, but they’re not going to attack,” Trump later said when asked about Ratcliffe warning Putin.

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And earlier this month, the US assessed that an explosive-laden drone discovered at an airport in Germany belonged to a Russian intelligence service.

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In May, a drone carrying explosives hit an apartment building in Romania as Russian forces attacked a nearby Ukrainian port, injuring two people.

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And last September, NATO fighter jets shot down multiple Russian drones that had violated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine.

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He has never entirely ruled out attempting to withdraw the US from the bloc.

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Still, a NATO summit in Turkey last month ended amicably.

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According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the flight initially took off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and transited through Riga, the Latvian capital.

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And he maintains friendly ties with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

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According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the flight initially took off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and transited through Riga, the Latvian capital.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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Under the NATO treaty, an armed attack on one member is considered an attack on all members. But Russia has for years used a variety of short-of-war techniques — including sabotage operations and cyberattacks — to undermine U.S. allies in Europe without provoking a broader retaliation.

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On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to significantly expand sanctions on countries that refuse to cut economic ties with Iran.

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

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Russia has reportedly shipped material to Iran to bolster its drone arsenal, and may be helping Tehran pinpoint strikes against U.S. facilities in the Middle East.

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Russia has reportedly shipped material to Iran to bolster its drone arsenal, and may be helping Tehran pinpoint strikes against U.S. facilities in the Middle East.

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Since his first term, Trump has repeatedly clashed with the U.S. intelligence community on matters pertaining to Russia, at times appearing to echo Kremlin talking points about NATO or offer more optimistic assessments on Putin than his own spy agencies support.

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But Trump has soured somewhat on Putin as he has struggled to bring the war to a close. And Ratcliffe is generally viewed as a hawk on Russia.

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Spokespeople for the embassies of Estonia and Lithuania declined to comment. Spokespeople for the Latvian embassy didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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The visit to Moscow is the latest instance in which Trump has turned to his CIA director to help navigate tense diplomatic negotiations with a major U.S. adversary. Ratcliffe also traveled secretly to Cuba this May to warn the country’s communist regime to make fundamental reforms or risk a U.S. pressure campaign.

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The visit to Moscow is the latest instance in which Trump has turned to his CIA director to help navigate tense diplomatic negotiations with a major U.S. adversary. Ratcliffe also traveled secretly to Cuba this May to warn the country’s communist regime to make fundamental reforms or risk a U.S. pressure campaign.

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While lawmakers were largely in the dark about the trip, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Tuesday that he welcomed the overture.

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Spokespeople for the embassies of Estonia and Lithuania declined to comment. Spokespeople for the Latvian embassy didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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The secretive visit to the Russian capital came to light on Tuesday, after a U.S. Air Force jet was spotted flying into a Moscow airport and a diplomatic motorcade moved through the city.

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The secretive visit to the Russian capital came to light on Tuesday, after a U.S. Air Force jet was spotted flying into a Moscow airport and a diplomatic motorcade moved through the city.

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CBS News was first to report the trip, which is Ratcliffe's first known visit to Russia as CIA director.

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On Thursday, Peskov dismissed media reports about the purpose of Radcliffe's trip, French news agency AFP reports.

"A lot of such scare stories are being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality," Peskov said, adding that Russia "is facing a very aggressive policy towards itself from European countries."

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Recent American intelligence assessments have indicated that Putin could be willing to authorize provocative actions on NATO territory, including cyberattacks, hybrid actions and other operations that fall short of conventional military action, CBS News reported earlier this month.

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Under Article 5 of the treaty that created NATO, members of the alliance are expected to come to each other's defense if attacked, a provision that the U.S. invoked after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. But Mr. Trump has long questioned NATO's reliability and criticized member states for — in his view — not contributing enough to their own defense.

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Meanwhile, Russia has maintained its partnership with Iran during the U.S.'s war with the Middle Eastern state, providing intelligence to Iran on U.S. positions in the region, CBS News reported earlier this year.

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The two countries have also cooperated on drone manufacturing for years.

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Mr. Trump has also publicly pushed Russia and Ukraine to end their four-year-long war, though diplomatic efforts have appeared to stall.

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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.

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Trump, in a radio interview on Wednesday, did not say specifically why Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow but said it could prove useful.

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Sources later told The Wall Street Journal that the CIA director was sent to Moscow to deliver a warning to Russia not to attack NATO amid concerns members of the Western military alliance are running low on munitions.

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Trump has vowed to broker an end to Russia's war against Ukraine, but has struggled to bring Moscow and Kyiv toward a compromise.

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Ratcliffe's visit comes at one of the most difficult periods in the war for the Kremlin. Thanks to its drone systems, Ukraine has been able to strike military targets and oil infrastructure deep inside Russia while also hindering Moscow's advance on the battlefield, turning the front into a kill box in which anything that moves is struck within minutes. Despite making little progress, Russia has continued to take heavy losses. In May, the Russian death toll reached nearly half a million, according to Anne Keast-Butler, the head of GCHQ, the U.K. intelligence agency.

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Ratcliffe's visit comes at one of the most difficult periods in the war for the Kremlin. Thanks to its drone systems, Ukraine has been able to strike military targets and oil infrastructure deep inside Russia while also hindering Moscow's advance on the battlefield, turning the front into a kill box in which anything that moves is struck within minutes. Despite making little progress, Russia has continued to take heavy losses. In May, the Russian death toll reached nearly half a million, according to Anne Keast-Butler, the head of GCHQ, the U.K. intelligence agency.

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If Washington did not respond to such an act of aggression, Russia could expose NATO's mutual-protection clause as hollow. Putin has some reason to think that the United States may stay out of a conflict if he initiates one soon. Trump has repeatedly expressed disdain for Europe and shown little interest in challenging Putin. In addition, America's weapons stockpile is depleted from the Iran war. Perhaps in response to fears of increased Russian aggression, NATO mounted a large U.S.-led air exercise last week over Poland and the Baltic region, which included flights near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

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If Washington did not respond to such an act of aggression, Russia could expose NATO's mutual-protection clause as hollow. Putin has some reason to think that the United States may stay out of a conflict if he initiates one soon. Trump has repeatedly expressed disdain for Europe and shown little interest in challenging Putin. In addition, America's weapons stockpile is depleted from the Iran war. Perhaps in response to fears of increased Russian aggression, NATO mounted a large U.S.-led air exercise last week over Poland and the Baltic region, which included flights near the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

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Other possible signs of Putin's growing belligerence have emerged. In recent weeks, a series of low-level attacks have swept Europe. Drones laden with explosives were found at the Leipzig airport this month, and there were explosions or fires at weapons factories and other sensitive sites in Estonia, Italy, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands, all of which have provided assistance to Ukraine. Authorities have attributed some but not all of the attacks to Moscow, and Russian officials have denied responsibility. But they follow an established pattern of Russian provocations in Europe.

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Regardless of Putin's ambitions elsewhere in Europe, he appears committed to fight the war in Ukraine indefinitely. Russia has increased its ballistic-missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, taking advantage of Kyiv's shortages in air defense. Reporting from the Journal suggests that Putin could be preparing a large-scale mobilization to replenish Russia's army for a renewed offensive. The Russian leader might try to overwhelm Ukraine this winter with a massive bombardment campaign aimed at destroying its energy grid. But Kyiv is unlikely to capitulate, because it knows that Putin would impose punitive terms.

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Other possible signs of Putin's growing belligerence have emerged. In recent weeks, a series of low-level attacks have swept Europe. Drones laden with explosives were found at the Leipzig airport this month, and there were explosions or fires at weapons factories and other sensitive sites in Estonia, Italy, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands, all of which have provided assistance to Ukraine. Authorities have attributed some but not all of the attacks to Moscow, and Russian officials have denied responsibility. But they follow an established pattern of Russian provocations in Europe.

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Regardless of Putin's ambitions elsewhere in Europe, he appears committed to fight the war in Ukraine indefinitely. Russia has increased its ballistic-missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, taking advantage of Kyiv's shortages in air defense. Reporting from the Journal suggests that Putin could be preparing a large-scale mobilization to replenish Russia's army for a renewed offensive. The Russian leader might try to overwhelm Ukraine this winter with a massive bombardment campaign aimed at destroying its energy grid. But Kyiv is unlikely to capitulate, because it knows that Putin would impose punitive terms.

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Regardless of Putin's ambitions elsewhere in Europe, he appears committed to fight the war in Ukraine indefinitely. Russia has increased its ballistic-missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, taking advantage of Kyiv's shortages in air defense. Reporting from the Journal suggests that Putin could be preparing a large-scale mobilization to replenish Russia's army for a renewed offensive. The Russian leader might try to overwhelm Ukraine this winter with a massive bombardment campaign aimed at destroying its energy grid. But Kyiv is unlikely to capitulate, because it knows that Putin would impose punitive terms.

fact

Regardless of Putin's ambitions elsewhere in Europe, he appears committed to fight the war in Ukraine indefinitely. Russia has increased its ballistic-missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, taking advantage of Kyiv's shortages in air defense. Reporting from the Journal suggests that Putin could be preparing a large-scale mobilization to replenish Russia's army for a renewed offensive. The Russian leader might try to overwhelm Ukraine this winter with a massive bombardment campaign aimed at destroying its energy grid. But Kyiv is unlikely to capitulate, because it knows that Putin would impose punitive terms.

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If Ukraine does survive the winter and retains the ability to strike deep inside of Russia, then Putin might choose to end the war in mid-2027. Facing the prospect of a U.S. president in 2029 who is more pro-Ukraine than Trump is, Putin may opt to take a favorable deal from this administration. That could include most elements of Trump's 28-point plan without Ukraine's withdrawal from the territory it currently controls. This would allow Putin to build a relationship with the United States in the time Trump has left as president—removing sanctions, rejoining the G7, and trying to undermine the NATO alliance indirectly through a partnership with Trump.

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There has been speculation over why John Ratcliffe went to Moscow on Tuesday, arriving on board a military plane and leaving hours later.

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Peskov made the comments in response to a question at his daily press briefing from a reporter at the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, who asked if Vladimir Putin was informed about the CIA chief meetings and "at what level" they were held.

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It was Ratcliffe's first known visit to Russia since the start of President Trump's second term. Washington and Moscow have maintained direct communication on intelligence and security issues, despite having strained relations over Russia's war with Ukraine.

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There has been no official comment on Ratcliffe's visit from the CIA or Pentagon.

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Since then, the US has had strained relations with Russia, which has been isolated on the world stage and faced international economic sanctions.

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Trump met Putin at a summit in Alaska last year, but the bilateral did not lead to a breakthrough. Subsequent US-led peace talks between Russia and Ukraine appear to have stalled.

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Since then, the US has had strained relations with Russia, which has been isolated on the world stage and faced international economic sanctions.

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