Trump Says Russia Will Not Attack NATO

US President Donald Trump dismissed the possibility of Russia attacking NATO countries while rejecting reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow to warn the Kremlin against such a move. Trump made the remarks in a phone interview with Axios on Thursday, Aug. 27, after several media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and Politico, reported on Wednesday, Aug. 26, that Ratcliffe made a surprise trip to Moscow on Tuesday, Aug. 25, to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against attacking a NATO member.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Ratcliffe sees his Russian counterpart once every six months or once every year,” Trump said, adding that “they have a very good relationship.” “There was no message and there was nothing unusual,” he continued. “I am not concerned… at all. There is no problem.” Russia confirms CIA meeting According to Axios, Naryshkin confirmed Thursday that he met Ratcliffe during his trip to Moscow. He described their discussions as a regular part of intelligence work and said there was “nothing out of the ordinary.” According to several media outlets, US intelligence assessments had focused on possible threats to the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – amid concerns that Moscow could seek to test NATO’s resolve through a limited incursion or a different kind of provocation, such as a cyberattack or hybrid warfare. Other Topics of Interest Dnipropetrovsk Region Expands School Shelter Network According to local authorities, 63 schools in Samar district will begin holding in-person classes or operate in a hybrid format on Sept. 1. The Wall Street Journal and Politico, citing their sources, said Ratcliffe also reportedly warned Putin against providing military or economic support to Iran. Around the same time on Wednesday, Trump said that “something may come out of” the visit, adding that his administration was working “very hard to end the war in Ukraine,” despite initially downplaying Ratcliffe’s visit as routine. Russia weighs escalation With peace negotiations reaching a “dead end,” Russia is reportedly considering intensifying ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine. Four people close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg on Wednesday that Russia now sees few alternatives to further escalation as it seeks to achieve its military objectives. Tactical nuclear weapons remain as a last resort in the war against Ukraine. “An extreme response is viewed as possible because the only outcome worse than continuing the war for Putin would be losing it,” Bloomberg reported, adding that there is currently no indication that Russia is preparing to use the weapons. Drone incursions raise concerns On Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Chișinău, Moldova for Moldova’s Independence Day celebrations and to meet with Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who said that, prior to the celebrations, five Russian drones had violated the country’s airspace again. Sandu called the incursions “intimidation.” Alongside Sandu, Zelensky is due to hold talks with Romanian President Nicușor Dan as part of a trilateral meeting. On Aug. 17, Sandu said Russia might be deliberately sending drones into Moldova’s airspace, adding that drone trajectories could indicate whether the incursions were accidental or a deliberate test of the region’s response capacity. Similar drone incursions have been repeatedly reported over NATO territory, particularly over Romania and Poland in recent weeks, fueling further speculation that Russia may be testing the alliance’s response. At the same time, Russia continues to prepare its youth for a conflict with NATO by 2030. Around 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, just a day before Sandu made the remarks, a drone entered Moldovan airspace from Ukraine and flew over the country for 18 minutes before continuing toward Galaţi, Romania. A Spanish F-18 fighter jet on combat patrol shot the drone down. The incident marked the fourth such instance of an intruding drone being shot down over Romania. On July 27, after NATO fighter jets shot down three stray drones over the weekend of July 24-26, Romania ordered a Russian embassy employee to leave the country within five days in what it called a “firm response” to the drones repeatedly breaching its airspace along the Ukrainian border. Russia plans new mobilization On Thursday, Ukraine’s intelligence agencies said Russia is preparing a new mobilization wave that could bring 600,000 additional troops into the war effort in 2026–2027. Mobilization was extended to also include women serving sentences in prisons and penal colonies. According to Axios, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the UK and France on Thursday of “playing with fire” by providing Ukraine with technology for long-range strikes, and threatened strikes on British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response. According to Bloomberg’s Kremlin-linked sources, Moscow increasingly sees Ukrainian strikes as attacks by NATO, because alliance members are supplying Kyiv with weapons and intelligence. 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.