Nausėda says CIA Moscow visit did not change security situation

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Monday that the country’s security situation had not changed following a visit to Moscow by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, LRT reported.

Nausėda said the meeting was intended to reduce tensions in the region and expressed hope that its message had reached the Kremlin at the right time.

US media reported last week that Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow for meetings. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News said his goal was to persuade Russia not to attack NATO members, citing US intelligence assessments that Moscow might seek to test the alliance. The CIA declined to comment on the trip.

Nausėda said Lithuania had no reason to be concerned about the visit, adding that allies had informed the country about the meeting and its content. He said the United States did not want to disclose the details publicly, and that Lithuania was respecting the established procedure.

“At this moment, I can say that the meeting addressed the goals that had been set. It was intended to reduce tensions in the region. I very much hope that this message reached the Kremlin regime at the right time,” Nausėda said.

He said the visit would not affect Lithuania’s preparations for potential threats and argued that the meeting was receiving too much attention.

Although Nausėda acknowledged that the meeting was important and that such meetings were rare, he said the overall security situation had not changed. He described it as tense but disagreed that it had increased dramatically in recent times.

According to the president, the situation had been tense since Ukraine began carrying out powerful strikes deep inside Russia. He said this was pushing the Kremlin regime into a corner and could create an additional threat, which NATO and the United States were intended to prevent together.