Security in Europe

Sources: Putin sees US as weakened – can pressure Europe

Russia's Vladimir Putin believes that the US is weakened by the war in Iran, which gives him the opportunity to put pressure on Europe. This is according to two sources that the Washington Post has been in contact with.

The assessment is based on an intelligence report that came shortly before CIA Director John Ratcliffe's trip to Moscow at the beginning of the week. According to the information, during the trip he is supposed to have warned Moscow that an escalation of attacks on Ukraine would backfire on Russia.

The US has not come up with any official explanation for why Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow. Previously, other American media have published media reports that the trip was carried out to warn the Kremlin against attacking NATO countries in the Baltics.

Analysis: CIA chief's secret trip "should probably be taken seriously"

Concerns are growing that a pressured Russia will escalate the conflict with the West. During his secret trip to Russia, CIA chief John Ratcliffe is said to have warned Moscow of attacks on NATO countries, especially in the Baltics.

"It has been almost five years since his predecessor William Burns made a similar trip. Even then, the situation was tense when Russia planned the invasion of Ukraine. So this should probably be taken seriously," writes the BBC's Frank Gardner.

CNN's Stephen Collinson also takes note of the pressured situation and points to a strategic dilemma for both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Both are stuck in wars that they find difficult to win or end without losing face, he writes in an analysis.

“The Iran war may not be as crucial to Trump’s political and personal future as the Ukraine war is to Putin’s. But just like his friend in the Kremlin, he has painted himself into a corner.” 

Trump: Not worried about Russian attack on NATO

Donald Trump sees no risk that Russia will attack NATO countries, he says in a telephone interview with Axios.

– I’m not worried at all. There is no problem.

This week, CIA director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow and met with his Russian counterpart. According to sources to several media outlets, he warned the Russians to attack NATO.

This is denied by Trump – according to the president, it was a routine business trip.

– Ratcliffe meets with his Russian counterpart sometime every six months or a year. They have a good relationship. There was no message or anything unusual, he says.