CIA director Ratcliff secretly visited Moscow with a warning not to attack NATO countries

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow to warn Russia against attacking NATO member states — Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources.

The visit lasted approximately four hours. According to the publication, it was prompted by U.S. intelligence assessments indicating that Russian President Vladimir Putin may attempt to test the alliance’s resolve by carrying out a limited strike against one of its member states.

Ratcliffe flew on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft that departed from Riga to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Tuesday morning; the flight was tracked using publicly available data. The trip marked the first publicly known visit by a CIA director to Russia since William Burns traveled to Moscow in November 2021 to warn the Kremlin against invading Ukraine.

An unambiguous warning

The message Ratcliffe delivered was reportedly crystal clear. The Daily Mail, citing U.S. intelligence assessments that “Russia is prepared to take active steps after its offensive in Ukraine stalled,” summarized it as: “Just don’t do it.”

“We know what you’re thinking about, and you’d better not do it” — that is how Beth Sanner, former U.S. deputy director of national intelligence, characterized the possible meaning of the visit.

Washington asked Ukraine to temporarily halt strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg for the duration of the visit. Kyiv agreed to suspend attacks on those cities from August 24 to 26.

Kremlin confirms talks, Trump downplays their significance

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Wednesday that Ratcliffe had met with Russian intelligence officials, but said there was no meeting with Putin.

“I can only say that contacts between intelligence services took place,” Peskov said, adding that Putin had been “immediately informed of everything.”

President Trump, speaking in an interview with radio host Glenn Beck on Wednesday, called the visit “generally routine.” When asked whether Ratcliffe had come to warn Putin against testing NATO or to discuss sanctions against Iran, Trump replied: “Nothing like that… I hate to disappoint people.” He said the visit was related to resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict and allowed that “something may come of it.”

Growing tensions on NATO’s borders

The visit came against a backdrop of growing concern over Russian military activity near NATO territory. Russian drones recently violated the airspace of Moldova and Romania, and on August 20 a naval drone was destroyed near a Romanian gas platform. The Institute for the Study of War warned that Moscow “intends to normalize such violations against NATO.”

Earlier in August, The Wall Street Journal reported that, according to U.S. intelligence, Putin may attempt to challenge NATO — ranging from cyberattacks to moving armed troops into a neighboring country’s territory. John Forman, a former British military attaché to Russia, told the BBC: “The Americans don’t usually send such a senior official to Moscow without warning and on short notice unless something is happening.”

An additional element of intrigue is the information that on August 25 — the same day as Ratcliffe’s visit — Putin signed three classified decrees whose contents remain secret: their existence can only be inferred from gaps in the public numbering of presidential orders. After the CIA director departed Moscow heading westward, a Russian Tu-214PU aircraft belonging to the Special Flight Detachment “Russia” took off and traveled along a similar route. The destination and passengers of that flight have not been officially disclosed.