US President Donald Trump denied in an interview with Axios information that CIA chief John Ratcliffe discussed military issues during an unannounced visit to Moscow. He soon stressed, answering questions from reporters at the White House, that Russia “will not attack NATO territory,” and noted that he had discussed this issue personally with President Vladimir Putin.
CIA Director Ratcliffe, who has been in office since 2025, arrived in the Russian capital on August 25 on a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III military transport aircraft and departed the same day. His Russian counterpart, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin, subsequently confirmed their meeting, noting that the parties discussed intelligence issues, which are a “delicate and special thing.”
Trump, in a telephone comment to Axios, stressed that media reports that Ratcliffe conveyed certain warnings to Naryshkin are untrue. The president said there was “no problem” and he was “not worried at all.”
The US President also called Ratcliffe’s communication with his Russian colleague “standard practice” and said that they “see each other once every six months to a year.”
“They have a very good relationship. There was no message, and there is nothing unusual here,” Trump said about Ratcliffe’s meeting with Naryshkin.
Soon, similar questions were asked of the US President during an event in the Oval Office. On Thursday, August 27, he signed a decree renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America amid a trade conflict with Canada. Trump was then asked whether Vladimir Putin “agreed not to attack NATO territory.”
“I had very good negotiations with him. He will not attack NATO territory,” Trump said, without specifying when this conversation took place.
The question was put to him again in the context of Ratcliffe's visit. Trump this time responded that he “does not want to comment” on the CIA director’s trip.
“They will not attack,” Trump emphasized when answering this question.
