WSJ: CIA Chief’s Surprise Moscow Trip Was to Warn Russia Not to Attack NATO
Ratcliffe also pressed Moscow to curb support for Iran and warned of additional sanctions if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, officials said.
- On Wednesday, Ratcliffe secretly flew to Moscow to urge Russian officials to stop sharing weapons and defense technology with Iran and avoid 'overreacting' to sanctions.
- Mirroring his clandestine trip to Cuba in May, the visit reflects Trump's strategy of deploying Ratcliffe for tense diplomatic negotiations with major adversaries.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened on Monday to expand sanctions on countries maintaining ties with Iran, while Russia has reportedly bolstered Tehran's drone arsenal and may help pinpoint strikes against U.S. facilities in the Middle East.
- Ratcliffe, widely viewed as a Russia hawk, addressed concerns over the Kremlin's 'short-of-war' techniques—sabotage and cyberattacks—used to undermine allies in Europe without triggering broader NATO retaliation.
- Official silence surrounds the flight, with spokespeople for the embassies of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia declining comment, while a Treasury Department spokesperson did not respond on Wednesday.
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121 Articles
It has been alleged that the purpose of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's secret visit to Russia was to warn Russian officials to refrain from attacks against NATO member states and the Baltic states.
The recent CIA director Ratcliffe's trip to Russia caused intense speculation and triggered worried reactions. Now, several media reports on a delicate goal of the visit.
CIA director John Ratcliffe warned Russia on his secret visit to Moscow on Tuesday of an attack on NATO allies, reports top officials who were on the trip. Ratcliffe also urged less support for Iran. Several times the US intelligence services warned that Russia's leader Vladimir Putin could escalate further by attacking a NATO country in Eastern Europe. The purpose: to test the West's response and split the military alliance.
US intelligence fears that Putin might do so, exasperated by the stall in Ukraine: Trump has diminished everything by talking about "semi-routine"
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ANSAThe surprise trip of the head of the CIA to Moscow was to warn Russia not to attack NATO countries. The Wall Street Journal reports it quoting...
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