Trump Says Putin Will Not Attack NATO Territory
Trump said Vladimir Putin would not attack NATO territory and played down reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Russia to warn Moscow against such a move.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attack NATO territory, rejecting concerns over a potential Russian move against the alliance as questions mounted over a CIA visit to Moscow.
“Putin is not going to be attacking NATO territory,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The president made the assertion twice during the day, also telling Axios that he did not expect Russia to launch such an attack.
Ratcliffe Mission Played Down
Trump also sought to minimize the significance of CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Russia this week.
Ratcliffe flew to Russia on Tuesday for a brief meeting with intelligence counterparts.
The Wall Street Journal reported that he had gone to Moscow to warn against an attack on a NATO member.
Trump rejected the suggestion that the CIA chief had been sent with a specific warning.
“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 told Axios.
Asked separately whether Ratcliffe had warned against attacking NATO territory, Trump declined to address the substance of the meeting.
“I don’t want to comment on that, but they are not going to attack,” he said.
NATO Risk Discussed
Two people familiar with the meeting said Ratcliffe did raise the possibility of a Russian operation against a NATO member, although it remained unclear whether that was the principal reason for his trip.
The discussions covered several issues, according to one of the people, including Russian support for Iran.
Trump separately said Russia had so far “behaved quite well” in relation to the Strait of Hormuz, adding that U.S. actions were reciprocal.
Intelligence Focus on Russian Operations
European and U.S. intelligence officials have monitored Russian sabotage and other gray-zone activity in Europe that remains below the threshold of open warfare.
Such operations have generally been viewed as attempts to weaken NATO cohesion and reduce member states’ willingness to continue backing Ukraine against Russia.
Western intelligence officials have also examined the possibility of a false-flag operation in which Russia could use a Ukrainian drone to strike a country in eastern or northeastern Europe while obscuring Moscow’s role.
Trump, however, offered an unequivocal assessment of the risk of a direct Russian attack on the alliance.
“He’s not going to attack a NATO territory,” he said.