The mysterious visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow in the middle of the week continues to draw attention in the U.S. media. The Washington Post reported that the unusual meeting with Russia’s top intelligence official was preceded by intelligence indicating that Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the United States as weakened by the war with Iran, which began exactly six months ago.
According to the U.S. intelligence report and two people familiar with the matter, Russia believes that Washington’s situation presents an opportunity to escalate its actions against U.S. interests and those of its allies in Europe.
Details of Ratcliffe’s talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Naryshkin, remain classified, but one source told the Post that the CIA director warned Moscow against escalating its war against Ukraine, arguing that such a move would backfire on Russia. Naryshkin, for his part, said there was “nothing unusual” about the talks.
Ratcliffe flew to Moscow on Tuesday, in the first known visit there by a CIA director since late 2021, when William Burns, then CIA director under President Joe Biden, tried to dissuade the Kremlin from invading Ukraine. Those efforts, as is known, failed and several months later the Russia-Ukraine war began, continuing to this day.
The intelligence indicating that Putin sees the United States as weakened by the war with Iran comes amid a series of reports about declining military readiness and ammunition shortages resulting from the prolonged campaign against Tehran. U.S. military weapons stockpiles have been dramatically depleted. The weapons shortages have alarmed U.S. allies in Asia and raised questions about Washington’s ability to deter a potential conflict with China.
According to people familiar with the details of the secret visit, Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow was “less about Putin being in a corner,” because his army has failed to break the stalemate on the battlefield in Ukraine, “and more because Russia assesses we are depleted and can’t intervene.”
Ratcliffe told Russian officials he met with that if Putin escalates the war in Ukraine, it would push Trump toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Even senior White House officials were kept in the dark
Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia was so sensitive, according to The Wall Street Journal, that even some senior White House officials did not know about the trip in advance. U.S. officials said President Trump personally sent him to Moscow and made sure that some of his advisers and senior administration officials were not informed beforehand.
Not worried? Trump
(Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
In recent months, Moscow has escalated its attacks on Ukraine, increased its support for the Iranian regime and opposed U.S. efforts to improve economic ties. Ratcliffe’s secret trip, which included a flight to Moscow from Latvia aboard an unmarked U.S. military C-17 transport aircraft, sparked widespread curiosity in the West and also prompted European officials to try to obtain information about it.
Two European officials said, after being briefed, that the CIA director made clear to his Russian counterparts during the meeting that the United States remains committed to NATO’s Article 5, which states that an attack on one member of the military alliance is considered an attack on all of them.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was not concerned that Putin would order an attack against U.S. allies, but evaded questions about the purpose of Ratcliffe’s visit.
“He’s not going to be attacking a NATO territory,” Trump said.