Russian President Vladimir Putin was initially prepared to meet CIA Director John Ratcliffe during his visit to Moscow on August 25 and had cleared his schedule for the talks. However, after being briefed on the position presented by the U.S. official, the meeting was deemed inadvisable, Agentstvo reported, citing a source close to the Kremlin.
According to the publication’s interlocutor, Ratcliffe urged the Russian leadership to reach an agreement to end the war as soon as possible. The CIA director argued that Russia’s military and economic situation was deteriorating, making it more advantageous for Moscow to strike a deal now.
Ratcliffe’s meetings in Moscow
During his trip to Moscow, Ratcliffe met with SVR Director Sergei Naryshkin and FSB Chief Alexander Bortnikov. A source close to Agentstvo said that after one of these meetings the conversation was relayed to Putin, after which the decision was made to cancel the talks with the CIA director.
“His message came across as if Volodymyr Zelensky were already standing on Poklonnaya Hill, looking at the Kremlin through binoculars. Everyone understands that this is not the case,” the source said.
Earlier, CIA Director John Ratcliffe had flown to Moscow. The Kremlin said he held talks with representatives of Russian intelligence agencies but did not meet with Putin. He was later briefed on the results of those meetings, though their content was not disclosed.
According to Axios, the CIA director proposed a summit involving Donald Trump, Putin, and Volodymyr Zelensky. The Washington Post reported that Ratcliffe went to Moscow to convince Putin that the United States had not been weakened by the conflict with Iran. The Wall Street Journal and Politico noted that another aim of his visit was to warn against attacks on NATO members, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The New York Times said Ratcliffe gave Bortnikov his “bleak assessment” of Russia’s position in the war.
New escalation
On August 22, Putin accused Ukraine of “letting the genie out of the bottle” by beginning to “damage the Russian economy,” and said it had “received a response.” He claimed Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were “effective and timely,” and dismissed all Ukrainian peace proposals as “exotic and unacceptable.”
On August 30, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that, “in accordance with the instructions received,” it had begun preparations for strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. On August 31, Russia launched a new massive strike on Ukraine. In Kyiv and the surrounding region, 11 people were killed, including children among the wounded. Strikes were also recorded in Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv regions.
Source: Novaya Gazeta Europe
