The reason CIA Director John Ratcliffe suddenly visited Moscow this week was to warn the Russian government not to attack any NATO countries, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday evening.
On Tuesday, a U.S. military transport plane arrived in Moscow, prompting speculation about who was on board and what their aim was. Later, CBS News reported that Ratcliffe was on board, though it was unclear why he had traveled to Russia amid its ongoing was on Ukraine. The U.S. has been arming Ukrainians in their attempt to repel the invasion, which began in February 2022.
The Journal reported on Wednesday that Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow for a very specific purpose: to warn President Vladimir Putin’s government not to attack any NATO members. The outlet cited “people briefed on the visit.”
“The trip was spy-agency chief John Ratcliffe’s first publicly known visit to the Russian capital,” the newspaper stated. “It followed new U.S. intelligence assessments, reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test the resolve of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with a limited assault on an allied country in the next few years.”
Earlier this month, the Journal reported that U.S. intelligence assessments indicated that Putin may try to test the NATO alliance by ordering a limited incursion into a NATO country. The report said U.S. officials are concerned Russia could target one of the Baltic nations – Estonia, Latvia, or Lithuania – that, like Ukraine, were previously part of the Soviet Union. Putin has called the collapse of the U.S.S.R. a “genuine tragedy.”
Wednesday’s report said the depletion of U.S. weapons stocks in the Iran war could be motivating Putin to consider making a move on a NATO country.
Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow comes after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, a real estate friend of President Donald Trump, made several visits to the country.
