Baltic officials downplay alarm after CIA director’s surprise Moscow visit

Baltic officials said Thursday that their assessments of the threat from Russia had not changed following reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Moscow against escalating tensions with NATO allies during an unannounced visit this week.

“We must remain vigilant, but Estonia’s threat assessment has not changed,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement. “The best deterrent is a united and strong NATO and the clear understanding in Moscow that the Alliance is prepared to defend every inch of Allied territory.”

Latvia’s defense chief Kaspars Pudans, meanwhile, also downplayed the imminent threat, telling the news outlet Delfi that if there were signs of danger “I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

The comments follow reports that Ratcliffe used the visit on Tuesday to warn Russian officials against actions that could escalate tensions with NATO.

Ratcliffe specifically raised concerns about potential Russian actions against Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with the meeting. Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ratcliffe warned Russia not to attack any NATO member countries.

Neither the U.S. nor Russia has disclosed what was discussed during the Tuesday visit, which was the first time a CIA director has visited Russia in about five years.

The meeting happened weeks after The Wall Street Journal reported on U.S. intelligence assessments warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test NATO’s resolve with a limited attack, such as a cyberattack or a small-scale land incursion, on an allied country in the next few years.

In a radio interview Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump described Ratcliffe’s mission as “semi-routine” and suggested it could help efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Ratcliffe talked with Russian intelligence officials but did not meet Putin. The Russian president has been briefed on the meeting, Peskov added.

U.S.-Russia relations have been severely strained by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the stalled diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. There has also been friction over Russia’s reported support for Iran during its war with the United States.

According to Politico, Ratcliffe conveyed a desire for Moscow to stop sharing weapons and defense technology with Iran and advised Moscow against “overreacting” if Russia is affected by recently tightened U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

The surprise visit caused speculation online after public flight-tracking data showed a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III flying from Riga, Latvia, to Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport.

Toward the end of 2021, then-CIA Director Bill Burns visited Moscow to warn against the Kremlin’s planned invasion of Ukraine. Months later, the full-scale invasion began.

“One thing should be obvious: it would be a grave mistake to assume that Russia’s leadership will fundamentally alter its strategic objectives (re Ukraine, Europe or Iran) because of messages delivered by the CIA director,” said Mark Mihkelson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, in a post on X.

The CIA, White House, Pentagon and U.S. Air Force declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.