US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vladimir Putin is “not going to attack” NATO territory, pushing back against media reports that Washington is concerned about a possible Russian move on Europe.
Trump’s comments came two days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow for surprise talks that the Wall Street Journal and CBS News had said was an attempt to dissuade Russia from attacking NATO members, amid US intelligence assessments that Moscow could seek to test the alliance.
“I’ve had good talks with him. He’s not going to be attacking a NATO territory,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if the Russian president had agreed not to do so.
Asked to confirm the reports about Ratcliffe delivering a warning to the Russians, Trump replied: “I don’t want to comment on that, but they’re not going to attack.”
Trump also played down the significance of the Moscow talks, suggesting they concerned Ukraine and dismissed reports that Ratcliffe had raised NATO or the US campaign to pressure Iran.
“He’s there, very sort of semi-routine. I hate to disappoint people. We would like to see the war with Ukraine end,” Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.
Earlier on Thursday, Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin also downplayed the meeting with his CIA counterpart.
“Yes, the meeting did take place, but there is nothing unusual about it,” Naryshkin was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS.
The two had discussed “a number of issues that fall within the remit of intelligence services,” he said, describing it as “quite a delicate and special matter”.
Ratcliffe is one of the highest-ranking US officials to visit Russia since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.
His visit came as Moscow escalates its offensive, with attacks this summer driving up the civilian death toll, while US-brokered peace talks have stalled.
And in Brussels, a senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “European services in general do not see any risk of an attack from Russia to the European countries, and this assessment has not changed.”
“When it comes to any threat to European NATO members, we see no assessment of any of that being under preparation now,” she added.
Trump also dismissed the need to punish Russia for trading with their ally Iran, after his administration announced an “economic D-Day” targeting Tehran if it refuses to open the Strait of Hormuz.
“So far, I think Russia’s behaved quite well, having to do with the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Kremlin dismissal
The Kremlin also dismissed as “scare stories” US media reports suggesting that Russia could attack NATO, following a rare visit by the CIA director to Moscow.
Asked to comment on the reports at a daily briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A lot of such scare stories are being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality.”
On Ukraine, he said Russia “would prefer to achieve its objectives by peaceful means, but in the absence of an opportunity to do so, it is continuing the special military operation,” referring to Moscow’s ongoing full-scale invasion.
Peskov also criticised Ukraine’s European backers, saying Russia “is facing a very aggressive policy” from them.
Russia has repeatedly rebuffed Ukrainian demands for face-to-face peace talks between President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, instead demanding Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donbas region.
Putin is under mounting pressure as Ukrainian retaliatory drone strikes impose an ever-growing toll on the Russian economy and civilians.
Widespread drone use at the front has made swift, large-scale troop movements almost impossible, preventing either side from gaining a clear advantage in the grinding four-and-a-half-year war.
Additional sources • AFP