Ratcliffe warned Moscow away from NATO's Baltic members
John Ratcliffe's previously unexplained Moscow trip now has a stated purpose: two people familiar with the visit say the CIA director warned Russia against attacking Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. As NATO ambassadors await a Pentagon briefing on a US force-posture review, European officials are also asking whether Washington is consulting allies or using troop deployments as leverage. The warning arrives amid uncertainty over America's own forces in Europe.
Geopolitics··Morning
The Moscow trip gains a stated purpose
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced trip to Moscow this week, according to two people familiar with the visit. They said he warned Russian officials against attacking Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania, the three Baltic states covered by NATO's collective-defence pledge. Ratcliffe also pressed Moscow to reduce its military and economic support for Iran. The journey was the first known Moscow visit by a CIA director during Donald Trump's presidency. Trump described it as a largely routine mission but acknowledged that it was connected to efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine.[1]
NATO allies await Colby's briefing
NATO ambassadors are due to hear from Elbridge Colby, the US under secretary of defense for policy, in Brussels on Thursday. European diplomats plan to describe the additional defence spending their governments have committed. Their larger question concerns the six-month US force-posture review announced in June: officials do not know whether it is an open consultation or a bargaining instrument for decisions Washington may already have made. Ratcliffe's warning invokes NATO's collective defence from Moscow, while the review asks allies what US forces will support that pledge; the reports establish this policy tension without showing that one decision caused the other.[1], [2]
US troop decisions remain unsettled
The United States still has roughly 80,000 troops in Europe, but it has announced withdrawals in recent months and reduced forces assigned to NATO defence plans. Documents circulated to member states have widened the debate about the review. Its terms of reference list improved access, basing rights and overflight permissions in Europe among Washington's goals. A separate questionnaire asks allies about defence spending, procurement and support for US foreign-policy priorities. One European official said allies could not tell whether Washington was genuinely assessing options or had already chosen its course.[2]
