The visit of the CIA director to Moscow this week, an unusual event, was aimed at warning Russia not to attack NATO, several US media outlets reported yesterday, Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump attempted to downplay its significance.

The Wall Street Journal and CBS reported that CIA Director John Ratcliffe tried to deter Russia from any attack against a NATO member state, at a time when, according to assessments by US intelligence agencies, Moscow may attempt to test the alliance.

The Wall Street Journal specifically reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin may launch “a limited attack” against NATO in the coming years.

The White House has not responded to a request from news agency AFP to comment on the reports.

Trump, for his part, described the CIA director’s visit to Moscow as “half-routine” during an interview yesterday with conservative commentator Glenn Beck, suggesting that its aim was discussions relating to the war in Ukraine. “We would like the war in Ukraine to end,” the US president said.

During his visit to Moscow, Ratcliffe also raised the war in Iran, threatening further sanctions if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened, according to the same US media reports.

However, Trump insisted during his interview yesterday that the visit was linked to neither Iran nor Russian threats against NATO. “He wasn’t there for any of the issues you mentioned,” he said when asked.

Talks “between intelligence services”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow for talks “between intelligence services,” adding that he did not meet with Putin.

Peskov said it was “still too early to say to what extent [this visit] will affect the process of restoring our bilateral relations from the deep crisis in which they currently find themselves.”

According to Peskov, no further talks are currently scheduled, though he spoke of “positive” contacts, while declining to comment on the topics discussed.

The previous known trip by a CIA chief to Russia took place in November 2021, before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.