President Donald Trump described CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Russia as routine engagement. He went on to dismiss the possibility that Russia could attack a NATO member.
On Thursday, Trump was asked by Axios reporter Barak Ravid if he was concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would authorize an attack on a NATO state. “I am not concerned … at all. There is no problem,” the President replied.
Earlier this week, former Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and current Kremlin adviser, Andrei Fedorov, warned the UK that “unknown sources” could attack arms facilities making weapons for Ukraine.
“Something might happen with enterprises, with factories, which are producing drones for Ukraine,” Fedorov told the BBC on Monday. “They could be attacked — not by Russia, but from unknown sources.” He explained that an attack may be “semi-military,” potentially a cyber-attack that does not have “official” approval from Moscow.
Fedorov argued that President Vladimir Putin was under increased pressure from the Russian public to take action against the UK. Additionally, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that the UK and France were “playing with fire” by agreeing to allow Ukraine to produce long-range cruise missiles.
On Tuesday, Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart. While the details of the discussion were not initially made public, on Wednesday, US officials told multiple outlets that Trump dispatched the CIA Director to Russia to warn Moscow not to attack any NATO countries.
In his interview with Axios on Thursday, Trump denied the reports. “Ratcliffe sees his Russian counterpart once every six months or once every year. They have a very good relationship. There was no message and there was nothing unusual,” Trump said.
