Bloomberg: European officials skeptical NATO attack was main topic of CIA chief's Moscow visit
Bloomberg sources say European officials see no evidence of Russian preparations for a conventional attack on NATO or a Baltic state, and doubt that was the central focus of the CIA director's Moscow trip.
European officials do not believe there is evidence Russia is preparing a conventional military attack on NATO or a Baltic state, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. As a result, they are skeptical that this was the primary reason behind CIA Director John Ratcliffe's August 25 visit to Moscow.
Bloomberg's sources indicated the talks more likely centered on other matters: efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, reaffirming NATO's Article 5 commitments in case of an attack, and the ongoing conflict involving Iran.
One official suggested the visit may also have aimed to prevent an overly harsh Russian response to U.S. economic measures targeting Iran — measures that could indirectly affect Russia as well — and to encourage Moscow to scale back its support for Tehran.
Bloomberg noted that none of the officials it spoke with had received an official U.S. briefing on the specifics of Ratcliffe's discussions in Moscow. Their conclusions were instead based on their own countries' intelligence assessments and their general understanding of how U.S. diplomacy and intelligence operations typically function.
