CIA Chief Warned Putin Against NATO Attack During Surprise Moscow Visit – Reports

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a surprise trip to Moscow on Tuesday to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against attacking a NATO member, amid the Kremlin’s stalled war against Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal and Politico reported on Aug. 26, citing sources familiar with the matter. The warnings reportedly focused on Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – the three Baltic NATO members that border Russia.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The US intelligence community has previously assessed that Moscow could seek to “test NATO’s resolve” with a limited attack on an alliance member, according to the WSJ. US officials reportedly believe such an attack could involve a cyberattack or a small-scale ground incursion into one of the Baltic states. The assessment comes as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to consume Western ammunition stocks, potentially creating vulnerabilities that Moscow could seek to exploit, according to WSJ sources. Ratcliffe also warned Putin against providing military and economic support to Iran, Politico reported. Neither Washington nor Moscow has publicly disclosed the results of Ratcliffe’s visit. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin did not meet with Ratcliffe and that the CIA chief’s contacts in Moscow were conducted at the intelligence-services level. US President Donald Trump described the trip as “semi-routine.” After returning to Washington, however, Ratcliffe attended a closed-door meeting between Trump and senior US national security officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The meeting lasted about three hours. Other Topics of Interest France Warns of New Hybrid Threat After Leipzig Drone Attack France’s intelligence chief warns the Leipzig incident could foreshadow attacks on defense, energy and communications infrastructure. Ratcliffe’s visit echoes a similar trip by then-CIA Director William Burns to Moscow in November 2021, just months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Burns met with senior Russian officials, including then-Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergei Naryshkin. He also spoke with Putin by phone. According to CNN, Burns warned Moscow about the consequences of its troop movements near Ukraine and stressed that an invasion would be unacceptable. Putin ultimately launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Washington asked Kyiv to hold fire Ahead of Ratcliffe’s trip, Washington asked Ukraine to temporarily suspend strikes on Russian territory while the US delegation was in Moscow. Axios reported that the US told Kyiv a senior delegation was traveling to Moscow and asked Ukraine to pause strikes until it had left. Ukrainian government sources later confirmed to public broadcaster Suspilne that Washington specifically asked Kyiv not to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg during the visit. The request came as Ukrainian forces have increasingly carried out long-range strikes against targets deep inside Russia, including in the Moscow region. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.