Reports: CIA chief warned in Moscow about attack on NATO

Secret services

Reports: CIA chief warned in Moscow about attack on NATO

The director of the US secret service CIA traveled to Russia for talks, but little is publicly known about the specific reason. Now US media are reporting on the reason for the visit.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe has Russia during his visit to Moscow According to media reports, warned of an attack on NATO allies. This was reported by the Wall Street Journal and Politico magazine, citing unnamed sources. The head of the US secret service visited the Russian capital on Tuesday. However, little was known about the content of his conversations.

The CIA chief warned Russia against escalation, especially with regard to NATO’s eastern partners in the Baltics, Politico reported. He also urged the Kremlin to give up its military and financial support for the Iran to shut down.

US President Donald Trump confirmed Ratcliffe’s stay in Russia on Wednesday (local time) on the US radio show of right-wing populist presenter Glenn Beck, but denied that the trip was in the context of possible action by Putin against the NATO or the Iran conflict. According to Trump, Ratcliffe’s visit was “kind of semi-routine.” “We would like to see the war with the Ukraine ends.”

According to Russian news agencies, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Ratcliffe had come to Moscow for talks “between the secret services.” President’s confidant Vladimir Putin stressed, however, that there had been no meeting between the Kremlin chief and Ratcliffe.

For Ratcliffe, it may have been his first visit to Moscow as CIA chief. The last known visit by a CIA chief to Russia was the 2021 trip by then-director William Burns. He also met with Putin. At that time, Burns was supposed to be on behalf of US President Joe Biden prevent an escalation in the Ukraine conflict. However, Putin then began his war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.