Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe, who on Tuesday, August 25, made an unannounced visit to Moscow, has shared his bleak assessment of the state of the Russia-Ukraine war with is Russian counterparts, The New York Times has reported. Ratcliffe made the secretive visit to Moscow amid reports that Russia was planning to attack a NATO member country, most likely Poland, even as the war with Ukraine drags on.
The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported CIA Director was aimed to dissuade Russia from attacking NATO members.
The New York Times report added that Ratcliffe met Aleksandr V. Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s FSB intelligence service, and urged the Russians to cut a deal before their military and economic situation gets worse.
Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit
Ratcliffe, a longtime Russia hawk, is one of the highest-ranking US officials to visit Russia since its war with Ukraine started in 2022. His predecessor, William Burns, had made a trip to Moscow in November 2021, just months before Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, in an effort to dissuade Putin from going ahead with the invasion, which is now its fifth year.
The in Ukraine, which Russia estimated to last just a handful of days, has so far killed hundreds of thousands, and despite it inflicting a high cost, the Kremlin has refused to ease its maximalist demands of keeping Crimea, which it occupied in 2014, and full control of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and , which it partly controls now.
CIA analysts have long questioned whether Putin’s advisers have given him honest assessments of the war’s trajectory and toll.
Ratcliffe discussed Iran war
According to the NYT report, the CIA has long maintained communications channels with the FSB and Russia’s foreign intelligence service, SVR.
The report added that Ratcliffe made no threats about potential consequences for the Russian side should President Vladimir Putin ignore the CIA director’s assessment and choose to continue fighting.
CBS News reported that during his visit, Ratcliffe also discussed the war with Iran, warning of additional sanctions if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t reopen to shipping traffic.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s SVR, confirmed that he had held a “working-level meeting” with Ratcliffe in Moscow where they discussed unspecified and sensitive matters falling within the remit of their respective intelligence services.
Trump, Kremlin deny NATO attack plan
The Kremlin has also dismissed as “scare stories” US media reports suggesting that Russia could attack NATO.
“A lot of such scare stories are being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday also expressed confidence that Russia would not attack NATO territory.
“I’ve had good talks with him. He’s not going to be attacking a NATO territory,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if Putin had agreed not to do so.
