CIA Director Flew to Moscow to Warn Russia Against Attacking Baltic States — Politico
News of John Ratcliffe's trip to Russia sparked a storm of speculation worldwide, as it was the first known visit by a CIA director to the Russian capital under President Donald Trump. The previous time a CIA chief flew to Moscow was five years ago, to warn the Kremlin against invading Ukraine. That effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe secretly visited Moscow this week and warned Russian authorities against escalation targeting US NATO allies, primarily Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Politico reports this, citing two sources familiar with the negotiations.
"The meeting was primarily dedicated to warning Russia against any escalatory actions regarding the Baltic states," one of the publication's sources stated.
As Politico notes, the CIA director's visit to the Russian capital took place without prior announcement. This is the first known trip by an American intelligence chief to Moscow during Donald Trump's current presidency.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Ratcliffe warned Moscow during his trip about a possible attack on NATO countries. However, the publication did not specify which countries were the main topic of discussion. Politico asserts that particular attention was paid to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
According to the publication, Ratcliffe also used the trip to pressure Moscow to reduce military and economic support for Iran. He urged Russia to stop transferring weapons and defense technologies to Iran.
The visit occurred amid increased tension between Russia and NATO countries. In recent weeks, Moscow has made a series of threats against alliance states supporting Ukraine. In the West, this has raised fears that Russia might intensify hybrid attacks — sabotage and cyberattacks — or even engage in limited military actions against one of the NATO countries.
According to the NATO Charter, an armed attack on one member of the alliance is considered an attack on all.
However, Russia has for many years used methods against Western countries that do not reach the threshold of open warfare and allow it to avoid a direct military response, Politico notes.
Donald Trump himself, in an interview on the morning of August 26, denied that the main purpose of Ratcliffe's trip was to persuade Vladimir Putin not to test NATO's resolve or attack the United Kingdom. He called the CIA chief's trip "semi-routine" but acknowledged that it was related to attempts to stop the war in Ukraine.
"I hate to disappoint people. We would like to see an end to the war in Ukraine," Trump stated.
The Kremlin officially did not disclose details of the visit. According to Russian reports, Putin did not meet with Ratcliffe, and the CIA director came to Russia for contacts between special services.
An interesting detail: the C-17 military aircraft on which Ratcliffe flew to Moscow had previously departed from Latvia, according to open flight tracking data.
Politico recalls that this is not the first visit by a CIA chief to Moscow ahead of a serious escalation.
In November 2021, then-CIA Director William Burns traveled to the Russian capital to warn Putin against a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Three months later, Russia started the war.
Ratcliffe's current visit comes at a time when the Russian-Ukrainian war is not nearing an end, and Moscow and Kyiv are intensifying long-range drone and missile strikes. Simultaneously, as Politico reports, Trump is becoming increasingly frustrated with Putin, as he has failed to deliver on his promise to quickly end the war.
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