CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a surprising and mysterious visit to Russia this week, prompting questions about why he made the trip as the war with Ukraine carries on.
The visit, it later was reported, was to deliver Moscow a message not to attack NATO countries. It was his first publicly known visit to Russia and came after U.S. intelligence officials believed Russian President Vladimir Putin might try and test the strength of the NATO alliance with a small attack on an allied country in the coming years, The Wall Street Journal reported.
U.S. officials believed that since Putin is in a difficult spot amid the five-year-long war with Ukraine, he’d be willing to test the strength of NATO, either through a cyberattack or a small ground excursion.
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence counterparts during his time in Moscow but did not meet with Putin.
The White House, however, didn’t provide much information about Ratcliffe’s visit.
During an interview Wednesday, Trump told conservative commentator Glenn Beck that none of the rumors about Ratcliffe’s visit were accurate.
“Can we put something to rest here because the speculation is crazy. The CIA director, ours, is in Russia. Rumors are saying ... Putin is going to test NATO resolve, all the way to speculation, that is crazy, he’s going to strike England, all the way to this is maybe the U.S. telling them about the Iranian sanctions,” Beck said. “Can you tell me why our CIA director flew in the middle of the night to meet with the Russians?”
“Well, none of the above,” Trump replied. “He’s there, you know, very sort of semi-routine.”
Trump said he would like to see the war with Ukraine end, noting as he often does that he believes it wouldn’t have started in the first place had he won the 2020 presidential election and been in office when it started.
“John Ratcliffe is a fantastic guy. He’s the head of the CIA, and he is not in there for any of the things that you said,” he said. “Now, something may come out, you know, out of it. We’re working very hard to get that war ended.”
The Journal’s reporting, based on U.S. officials speaking anonymously about the matter, disputes part of the president’s statement.
They confirmed that Ratcliffe was in Russia to sway Putin from launching any sort of attack on another country, but the officials noted that U.S. intelligence believed if Russia had launched a ground excursion, it likely would have been on a Balkan country, not the United Kingdom.
During an executive order signing on Thursday, Trump was asked about Ratcliffe’s visit. He confirmed that he had “good talks” with Putin and said the Kremlin won’t be attacking a NATO territory.
Asked whether Ratcliffe’s trip was to deliver a warning to Russia not to attack a NATO country, Trump said he didn’t want to comment on that.
“But, they’re not going to attack,” he said.
Trump was also asked about reports that Russia would be working with Iran, despite the U.S. warnings for other countries to get involved in helping the Iranian regime during the ongoing war. He said “it depends” if he would punish Russia if they continue with Iran.
“So far, I think Russia’s behaved quite well, having to do with the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Ratcliffe’s trip was a rare visit by a U.S. spy-agency chief with the last known trip made in 2021. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has made several trips to Moscow with the goal of trying to end the war with Ukraine, which began in February 2022.