CIA Director Made Secret Moscow Trip to Warn Putin Against Attacking NATO: Report– slaynews.com
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EXCERPT:
CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s mysterious trip to Moscow this week was reportedly intended to deliver a direct warning to Russia against attacking a NATO country amid U.S. intelligence concerns that President Vladimir Putin could eventually test the alliance with a limited military assault.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ratcliffe’s surprise mission was connected to recent U.S. intelligence assessments indicating that Putin could attempt an attack against an allied nation in the coming years to gauge whether NATO would respond.
President Donald Trump, however, offered a different account of the closely guarded mission, describing Ratcliffe’s trip as “sort of semi-routine.”
Asked by conservative radio host Glenn Beck whether the CIA director had traveled to Moscow to warn Russia about NATO, potential strikes involving England, or sanctions against Iran, Trump responded that it concerned “none of the above.”
“Something may come out of it,” Trump added, saying his administration was “working very hard to get that war ended,” referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ratcliffe’s visit nevertheless represented one of the highest-level contacts between Washington and Moscow in months.
