The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Narishkin said he had dealt with "sensitive" matters with the head of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. (CIA), John Ratcliffe, who on Tuesday made a lightning visit to Russia, the first since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
“During the meeting we discussed a number of issues that are the competence of the intelligence services. And, as you know well, the competition of the intelligence services is a rather delicate and special matter,” he told local media.
He added that “there is nothing unusual” in that the meeting took place, since, within the framework of the activities of the intelligence services “the meetings between heads whether presencial or telematic, are part of our work”. “The meeting with John Ratcliffe was a working meeting,” he said, according to Interfax.
The Kremlin positively assessed the visit, adding that “the contacts between the secret services themselves are something positive,” moreover, he added, when “these contacts continue, often, even in the most complicated moments of our relations.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump denied that the visit had to do with a possible Russian attack on NATO or on the military operation in Iran. He added that Washington wants the war in Ukraine to end as soon as possible.
This was the first visit to Russia made by a director of the Central Intelligence Agency since November 2021, when William Burns traveled to Moscow to try to convince Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to give up his plans to invade Ukraine.
According to U.S. media, the unusual trip of the CIA director to Moscow this week was to deter Russia from any attack on NATO member states. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News on this task entrusted to John Ratcliffe, concluding from U.S. intelligence reports that assure that Moscow may seek to test the alliance.
The White House has denied that a possible attack on NATO is at stake. Even Trump said the CIA director made a “semi-routine” visit to Moscow and suggested he was dealing with Russian authorities about the war in Ukraine. The billionaire assured that this displacement was not related to Iran or Russian threats to NATO.
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