Top White House Aides Were in the Dark on Ratcliffe Russia Trip

John Ratcliffe’s diplomatic mission to Russia this week was so sensitive that even some senior White House officials didn’t know about it ahead of time.

President Trump personally dispatched the Central Intelligence Agency chief and kept trusted aides and military leaders who normally would have been briefed on the trip in the dark about the message he would deliver to senior Kremlin figures, U.S. officials said.

By sending the spy-agency chief, Trump relied on a different aide after previous rounds of negotiations using other trusted envoys failed to stop the fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine. Over the past few months, Moscow has escalated its attacks on Ukraine, boosted support for Iran’s regime and resisted American attempts to improve economic ties.

Ratcliffe’s secretive journey, which included flying into Moscow in an unmarked U.S. C-17 military cargo plane from Latvia, sent European officials scrambling for information after news of the visit spread, some of those officials said. After being briefed, two European officials said the CIA director reinforced to his Russian intelligence counterparts that the U.S. remained committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Article 5, which says that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Ratcliffe warned Russian officials not to attack NATO countries.

Ratcliffe’s visit follows recent intelligence assessments showing Moscow might test the alliance’s resolve within a few years, the Journal previously reported. European officials, for example, have warned that Moscow has accumulated Ukrainian drones for a potential false-flag operation against eastern-flank states.

Trump told reporters Thursday he wasn’t worried Russian President Vladimir Putin would order an assault on allies: He “won’t attack NATO territory,” Trump said.

Ratcliffe also discussed re-energizing talks with Ukraine to end Russia’s invasion, U.S. and European officials said. Kyrylo Budanov, chief of Ukraine’s presidential office, said Thursday those negotiations could restart in September. The CIA chief also pressed the Russians not to maintain economic or security ties with Iran, as the administration ratchets up its sanctions campaign against Tehran.

The CIA declined to comment. The White House pointed to Trump’s recent comments on the matter, including an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck in which he said Ratcliffe’s trip was “semi-routine.”

Some European leaders, including those along the alliance’s eastern edge, said Thursday they were less concerned about a possible Russian incursion into the Baltic states. “There is currently no reason for concern,” Latvia’s Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in a video posted on social media. “Latvia’s level of military threat hasn’t changed. The risk of direct military invasion threats to Latvia is currently low.”

But European officials noted Russia is waging an escalating hybrid war against Ukraine’s European allies, which have been targeted with drones, cruise missiles, cyberattacks and even explosive-filled packages—the kind of moves that could spark a crisis.

European leaders characterize the moves as a campaign to weaken NATO support for Ukraine and undermine the alliance.

It has long been determined that Putin’s goal remains a takeover of Ukraine and he will only act in ways to achieve that mission. The Kremlin is rewriting and debating fresh attack plans for NATO, U.S. and European officials assess, an update that was needed after Russia’s immense casualty losses, weapons shortages and economic downturn.

Many European officials are concerned that Russia could pose a more serious conventional threat by 2030, a point when Moscow’s military could have recovered from its Ukraine campaign and Europe would still be building up its forces.

Trump made ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a priority in his second term. He has dispatched special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to meet with Putin several times, later sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner to join him. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg have also traveled abroad to speak with counterparts from both warring nations.

Trump held a summit last August with Putin in Alaska, once a Russian territory, to break the diplomatic stalemate. The leaders failed to make a deal, although Trump officials for months afterward pressed Ukraine to unilaterally give up territory in eastern Ukraine that Russia hasn’t conquered.

Ratcliffe has had some success dealing with the Kremlin, such as in helping secure the release of American hostages in Russia, U.S. officials said. That know-how, the CIA’s longstanding channels to Russia’s intelligence services and Ratcliffe’s place in Trump’s inner circle make him a useful interlocutor with Moscow, the officials added.

Ratcliffe crafted his message and delivered it in person to Russian officials to ensure the Kremlin realized Trump’s peacemaking efforts wouldn’t distract from his security commitments to Europe, said J.C. Lintzenich, a former senior U.S. intelligence official and national-security adviser in the Senate.

“Putin has a tolerance for extraordinary risk and is even potentially willing to escalate to compel de-escalation, but he is unlikely to roll the dice on actions that could threaten the Russian state,” said Lintzenich, now a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund think tank in Washington, D.C.