Media outlets have published new details about CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow.
The Wall Street Journal writes that only a limited number of people knew about Ratcliffe’s trip. Several aides to the U.S. president who would normally have been expected to know about such a trip were unaware of the visit.
The New York Times presented its own account of the purpose of the visit. Earlier, WSJ and Politico reported that Ratcliffe warned Russia against a possible attack on one of the NATO countries to test the alliance’s unity.
According to the NYT, the CIA director conveyed to FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov the U.S. assessment of the consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine and called for the resumption of peace talks. The newspaper notes that U.S. intelligence has long questioned whether Putin is receiving a full and accurate picture of the situation on the front and the consequences of the war for Russia. Ratcliffe’s task was to present such an assessment. At the same time, the CIA director did not threaten Russia with consequences if it failed to heed U.S. calls to resume negotiations.
