Sinkevičius says CIA Moscow visit signals US concern for Europe

US concern for Europe and Ukraine was signalled by the unannounced visit of CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said, according to LRT.

“Our strategic partners across the Atlantic are sending Moscow and Russia a clear message that they are watching, they see and they care,” Sinkevičius said on Thursday at a joint news conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal.

He said the visit showed that the United States was not focused solely on the Middle East and Iran, adding that attention to Europe and Ukraine remained. He said these issues were likely among the purposes of the visit.

Sinkevičius said the level of military threat in the region had not changed. However, he warned that this did not mean incidents, various hybrid attacks, drone activity or the instrumentalisation of migration from Belarus would not occur or intensify.

“This is not a calm period. The geopolitical situation is neither calm nor stable, and as sovereign countries we must prepare collectively, get ready and invest in our security and defence,” he said.

Michal, for his part, stressed NATO’s strength and said Russia was aware of the alliance’s ability to act.

“According to the information from our security institutions, there have been no changes in the threat assessment for Estonia and the Baltic states. This means that Russia knows very well that NATO is capable of acting, and knows that NATO is strong and acts,” the Estonian prime minister said.

Michal also said Estonia had been informed about Ratcliffe’s visit, although intelligence agencies disclosed details only at their own discretion.

US media reported on Tuesday that Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow for meetings. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported that his aim was to persuade Russia not to attack NATO members, citing US intelligence assessments that Moscow might want to test the alliance.

The CIA declined to comment on the trip. ABC News reported that Ratcliffe also mentioned Iran during the meetings. The Wall Street Journal said Russian President Vladimir Putin could test NATO within the next several years by carrying out a “limited attack.”

Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow from Riga aboard a US Air Force C-17 military transport aircraft. Axios, citing its sources, reported that the United States had asked Ukraine to halt strikes against Russia while he was in Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Washington Post that Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow for contacts between security services. He later said Ratcliffe had not met Putin, but provided no further details about the meetings.

The visit was probably Ratcliffe’s first trip to Moscow as CIA director. The last known visit by a CIA director to Russia took place in 2021, when then-director William Burns travelled to Moscow and met Putin. Burns was sent by then-US President Joe Biden in an effort to prevent an escalation of the war in Ukraine.