A warning not to attack NATO member states was the central message CIA Director John Ratcliffe carried into Moscow this week, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The trip unfolded against a backdrop of US intelligence assessments concluding that Russia may attempt to probe the alliance.
Those assessments have flagged the possibility that Vladimir Putin would sanction provocative moves on NATO territory. Rather than conventional military action, officials point to cyberattacks, hybrid operations and similar measures designed to fall below that threshold. The aim, according to US officials, would not necessarily be to spark a war but to gauge whether the alliance holds together and whether the Trump administration would honor its commitment to defend allies.
Concern has been fueled by a run of recent incidents. Drones have crossed into Romania, a Russian missile entered Polish airspace last month, and Europe has seen a rise in alleged sabotage and cyberattacks.
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Iran also featured in the discussions. Ratcliffe cautioned that further sanctions could follow if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to shipping traffic, the people said. His visit coincided with a fresh US Treasury program of secondary sanctions aimed at nations that do business with Tehran, an approach that experts say depends on cooperation from Iran’s partners, Russia and China among them.
The trip only became public on Tuesday, when a US Air Force jet was seen landing at a Moscow airport and a diplomatic motorcade moved through the city. Confirmation came the next day from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who said Ratcliffe had met Russian intelligence officials but not Putin. The president, Peskov added, had been briefed on the results. He gave no account of the substance of the talks and dismissed as premature any suggestion the meeting signaled warmer relations.
Speaking to radio host Glenn Beck, President Donald Trump acknowledged the visit but downplayed it, calling it “semi-routine” and rejecting any link to Iran or to fears about Russia testing NATO. He said “something may come out of” the trip, tying it to his stalled effort to end the war in Ukraine.
Kyiv was notified that a US delegation was heading to Moscow and asked to pause strikes while the visit was underway, a senior Ukrainian official said.
Ratcliffe’s journey marked the first by a CIA director to the Russian capital since November 2021, when his predecessor William Burns cautioned Putin against invading Ukraine. The full-scale war began three months after that meeting.
Poland, meanwhile, has been reinforcing its eastern defenses. It has received 28 South Korean-made K2 Black Panther tanks for a division based near Russia’s Kaliningrad region. Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said this month that Warsaw was preparing for the possibility of a full-scale war.
