According to the source, J. Ratcliffe came to Moscow to urge the Russian leadership to agree on ending the war as soon as possible. The CIA director based this on the fact that Russia’s military and economic situation is deteriorating, so it is more beneficial for Moscow to make an agreement now rather than wait for further weakening.
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During the visit, J. Ratcliffe met with the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, and, as reported by several Western media outlets, with the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov. According to a source from “Agentstvo,” after one of these meetings, the content of the conversation was passed on to V. Putin, after which the Kremlin refused a personal meeting between the Russian leader and the CIA director.
“His message seemed as if Zelensky was already standing on Poklonnaya Hill and surveying the Kremlin with binoculars. Everyone knows that is not the case,” the source told the “Agentstvo” portal. “The New York Times” previously wrote that J. Ratcliffe conveyed to A. Bortnikov his “grim assessment” of Russia’s situation in the war.
“It seems A. Ratcliffe chose the wrong addressee,” the source described the Kremlin’s reaction to this message. Whether the CIA director’s position reflected the entire Donald Trump administration’s stance is unknown to the source.
The Kremlin officially stated that J. Ratcliffe did not meet with V. Putin, but the Russian leader was promptly informed about the results of the CIA director’s contacts with the country’s special services. “Naturally, President Putin is informed about everything immediately,” said Dmitry Peskov.
Why he came
The first known visit of J. Ratcliffe as CIA director to Moscow took place on the morning of August 25 on an American military C-17 aircraft, which had previously stopped in Riga. Western media outlets, citing sources, proposed several versions of his travel objectives.
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According to “The New York Times” version, J. Ratcliffe came to urge Moscow to make an agreement before its military and economic situation worsened further.
The “Axios” portal wrote that J. Ratcliffe also proposed the idea of a trilateral high-level meeting between D. Trump, V. Putin, and V. Zelensky. After the trip, according to the portal, J. Ratcliffe concluded that A. Bortnikov is a “constructive player” who could help restart diplomatic negotiations.
Warned Moscow about the Baltic states
“The Wall Street Journal” and “Politico” also reported another part of the mission – a warning to Moscow about the unacceptability of a possible attack against NATO countries, primarily the Baltic states. However, D. Trump himself denied that J. Ratcliffe went to Moscow to warn about an attack on NATO or to discuss the Iran issue, calling the trip “partly routine.” At the same time, the US president implied that “something might come out” of this visit, adding that his administration is trying to end the war in Ukraine.
According to “The Washington Post,” Washington feared that the Kremlin perceives the prolonged US war with Iran and dwindling American weapons supplies as an opportunity to escalate the situation in Europe. J. Ratcliffe, according to the newspaper, warned the Russian side that a serious escalation of the war in Ukraine would have the opposite effect and bring D. Trump closer to V. Zelensky.
