Trump commented on the CIA chief's visit to Moscow
US President Donald Trump called CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow "semi-routine" and denied some media reports about the content of his talks with Russian officials. In an interview with radio host Glenn Beck, Trump stated that a possible Russian attack on NATO countries, including the UK, and sanctions against Iran were not discussed during the trip. "He's there, you know, [...]
Trump commented on the CIA director's trip to Moscow.
United States President Donald Trump described CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow as "semi-routine" and denied several media reports regarding the topics of his talks with Russian officials.
In an interview with radio host Glenn Beck, Trump said that the issues of a possible Russian attack on NATO countries, including the UK, and sanctions against Iran were not raised during the trip.
"He's there, you know, on a very, in some ways, semi-routine visit. I don't want to disappoint anyone. We would like to see the war in Ukraine end. That war would never have started if I were president," Trump said.
The American president emphasized that Washington continues to work to resolve the conflict and expressed the view that the Russian and Ukrainian leaderships are also interested in its end. According to him, Ratcliffe's visit "could lead to something."
"Now something could come of this. "We're working hard to end this war. And frankly, at this point, both sides want it to end," Trump said.
The CIA director himself did not comment on the trip. Dmitry Peskov previously stated that Ratcliffe had arrived for contacts between intelligence agencies, and no meetings with Vladimir Putin were planned.
However, The Wall Street Journal and Politico, citing their sources, claim that during the visit, Ratcliffe warned Moscow against attacking NATO countries, specifically Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.