According to several United States media sources, the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe, travelled secretly to Moscow this week to convey to the Russian side a message not to attack NATO. As Russian-Uu remote strikes continue to escalate, the fear of further spillovers of the conflict is rising.
The flight was exposed by the arrival of a military aircraft.
The visit of Ratcliffe was the first time that he had been known publicly about his visit to the Russian capital after he had served as director of the CIA. On Tuesday, a United States air force aircraft was found arriving at Moscow airport, and social platforms subsequently shed images of diplomatic convoys crossing the city, which exposed the trip.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to cite the disclosure of the purpose of the trip by an informed source, stating that the United States intended to warn the Russian side directly against any attack against NATO. Polit coins were issued and CBS News was subsequently quoted by the same sources.
Also referring to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
CBS News also stated that Ratcliffe had spoken of Iran during his trip and warned that the United States might impose further sanctions if the Strait of Hormuz did not resume shipping.
This statement is in line with recent pressure on Iran by the Trump government. It was reported that, after six months of conflict in the United States, Israel and Iran, Washington was seeking to continue to hit the Tehran economy through so-called “secondary sanctions” and to pressure its trading partners.
The Russian-Uu remote strike continues to escalate.
In recent weeks, Russia and Ukraine have launched more intensive drone and missile strikes against each other outside the front line, further raising the risk of escalation. External observers are generally concerned that the war may enter a more dangerous phase.
President Zelens of Ukraine stated earlier in the basic month that Russian President Putin was preparing to escalate the war and called on his partners to increase the pressure for sanctions against Moscow and to accelerate the provision of additional air defence support to the Ukrainian side.
The report also mentioned that the Russian army had recently increased missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, possibly because of an attempt to exploit the shortage of ballistic missile interdiction capabilities in Kiev. Zelensky had repeatedly requested allies to expedite the delivery of the relevant interception systems, stating that such equipment would have reduced the number of casualties in the Kiev attack earlier this month.