Vladimir Putin had initially been prepared to meet CIA Director John Ratcliffe during his visit to Moscow on August 25 and had cleared his schedule for possible talks. But once the Russian president was briefed on the message the American official had brought with him, a meeting was deemed unnecessary, a source close to the Kremlin told Agentstvo.
Details. According to Agentstvo’s source, Ratcliffe came to Moscow to urge the Russian leadership to reach an agreement to end the war as soon as possible. The CIA director’s assessment was that Russia’s military and economic position was deteriorating and that Moscow would be better off striking a deal now rather than waiting until it weakened further.
- ️During the trip, Ratcliffe met with Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Sergei Naryshkin and, according to several Western media outlets, with FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov. Agentstvo’s source said that after one of those meetings, Putin was briefed on the substance of the talks, after which the Kremlin decided against a face-to-face meeting between the Russian president and the CIA director.
- ️»His message made it sound as though Zelensky were already standing on Poklonnaya Hill, looking at the Kremlin through binoculars. Everyone understands that this is not the case," Agentstvo’s source said. The New York Times previously reported that Ratcliffe had given Bortnikov his «bleak assessment» of Russia’s position in the war.
- ️»It seems Ratcliffe had come to the wrong address," the source said, describing the Kremlin’s reaction to the message. The source said he did not know to what extent the CIA director’s position reflected that of the Trump administration as a whole.
- ️The Kremlin has officially said that Ratcliffe did not meet Putin, but that the president was promptly briefed on the outcome of the CIA director’s contacts with Russia’s intelligence services. «Naturally, President Putin is briefed on everything without delay,» Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Context. Ratcliffe’s first known visit to Moscow as CIA director took place on the morning of August 25. He arrived aboard a U.S. military C-17 transport aircraft that had made a stop in Riga beforehand. Western media outlets, citing sources, offered several accounts of the purpose of his trip.
- ️According to The New York Times, Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow to urge Russia to reach a settlement before its military and economic position deteriorated further.
- ️Axios reported that Ratcliffe also floated the idea of a trilateral Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit. Following the trip, the outlet said, Ratcliffe came away believing that Bortnikov was a «constructive player» who could potentially help restart diplomatic negotiations.
- ️The Wall Street Journal and Politico reported another element of Ratcliffe’s mission: a warning to Moscow against any possible attack on NATO countries, particularly the Baltic states. Trump himself, however, denied that Ratcliffe had traveled to Moscow either to warn Russia against attacking NATO or to discuss Iran, describing the trip as «partly routine.» At the same time, the U.S. president said that «something could come of it,» adding that his administration was trying to end the war in Ukraine.
- ️According to The Washington Post, officials in Washington were concerned that the Kremlin viewed the prolonged U.S. war with Iran and the depletion of American weapons stockpiles as an opportunity to escalate in Europe. Ratcliffe, the newspaper reported, warned the Russian side that a major escalation of the war in Ukraine would backfire and push Trump closer to Zelensky.
Automatically translated from Russian.
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