Reports: CIA director visited Moscow to warn against attacking NATO

Sources familiar with CIA Director John Ratcliffe's recent trip told The Wall Street Journal that he traveled to Moscow to warn Russia against attacking NATO. Politico similarly reports that the CIA warned Moscow about the dangers of escalation toward the Baltic states.

This was the first publicly known visit by Ratcliffe to the Russian capital since he took over the CIA. The trip followed conclusions by US intelligence that Vladimir Putin might, in the coming years, attempt to test NATO's resolve by staging a limited attack on one of the alliance's member states.

Concerns over the Baltics

According to the reports, US officials fear that a pressured Putin could try to test NATO's strength, for example through a limited military strike or a cyberattack. Washington is concerned that one of the Baltic states could become a potential target. A source familiar with the matter told Politico that the main purpose of the meeting was to warn Russia against any escalatory steps toward the Baltic states.

The Wall Street Journal also notes that Putin's decisions could be influenced by a shortage of critical Western-made munitions. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the US has sent large quantities of weapons and ammunition to Kyiv, while American military resources are now also engaged in the conflict with Iran.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence representatives but did not meet with Putin. US President Donald Trump described the visit as fairly routine, then shifted the conversation to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal also notes that the previous known visit by a CIA director to Russia was William Burns' trip in November 2021, shortly before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.