They are “pushing back” on media reports that preventing an attack on NATO was the focus of CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow this week.
“Topics on the visit would likely have included ending the war against Ukraine, reaffirming the strength of NATO’s Article 5 commitment in the face of a potential attack, and the Iran war, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue,” Bloomberg writes.
“None of the officials had been briefed by the U.S. on the details of Ratcliffe’s meeting, and their assessments were based on their own intelligence and their understanding of how the United States typically operates.”
One Bloomberg source said the visit to Moscow was also likely intended to prevent an excessive Russian response to U.S. economic measures against Iran that could affect Russia, and to persuade Moscow to stop supporting Tehran.
Bloomberg noted that Western intelligence and government officials have warned in recent months that Russian security services are exploring options for sabotage against infrastructure and false-flag operations in the Baltic states and Poland.
At the same time, the sources said the latest intelligence did not indicate any changes in Russia’s conventional military posture.
Western intelligence services routinely maintain communication channels with their Russian counterparts, officials said. However, people familiar with the trip suggested that it was notable that Ratcliffe appeared to want his Moscow visit to become public.
Earlier on Aug. 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had received information from the United States about a “series
of meetings” held in Moscow in recent days.