Putin was ready to meet CIA director but changed his mind: media reported the reason
Russian President Vladimir Putin was initially prepared to meet with CIA Director John Ratcliffe during his secret visit to Moscow on August 25, but declined talks after he was briefed on the content of the American side's message. This was reported by "Agentstvo" citing a source close to the Kremlin.
According to the source, Putin's schedule allegedly had time set aside in advance for a possible meeting with the CIA chief. However, after Ratcliffe's talks with the heads of Russian intelligence services, the content of the conversation was relayed to the Russian President, after which a personal meeting was deemed inexpedient.
This information is based on a single anonymous source and has not been independently confirmed. Officially, the Kremlin previously stated that a meeting between Putin and Ratcliffe was not planned.
Ratcliffe urged Russia to negotiate an end to the war
According to "Agentstvo", the CIA Director came to Moscow with a message that the Russian leadership should negotiate an end to the war against Ukraine as soon as possible.
The American side, according to the source, proceeded from the assumption that Russia's military and economic situation is deteriorating, so it would be more advantageous for Moscow to reach an agreement now rather than wait for further weakening.
During the trip, Ratcliffe met with Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin and, as Western media reported, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov.
According to "Agentstvo", after one of these conversations, the content of the American message was conveyed to Putin. The Kremlin's reaction was negative: the source claims that they considered Washington's assessment not correspond to Russia's vision of the situation on the front.
"It seems Ratcliffe got the wrong address," — the source described the Kremlin's reaction.
The New York Times previously reported a similar version
Information about the content of the American message partially coincides with previous reports by The New York Times. The publication wrote that during the talks, Ratcliffe conveyed to Bortnikov a grim assessment of Russia's military and economic situation and urged Moscow to reach an agreement before the situation worsens further.
According to the newspaper, the CIA also doubts that Putin receives objective information from his inner circle about the progress of the war and the scale of Russian losses.
However, Ratcliffe reportedly did not threaten the Russian side with specific consequences in case of refusal to negotiate.
A trilateral summit was also discussed in Moscow
Axios previously reported that during the visit, Ratcliffe proposed a meeting of US President Donald Trump, Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The CIA Director also tried to find out whether Russian intelligence chiefs could help resume the negotiation process.
After the Moscow trip, the American side informed Ukraine about the content of the contacts. According to Axios, Ratcliffe concluded that Bortnikov could potentially be one of the channels for resuming diplomatic negotiations.
Other Western media reported that during the mission, they may also have discussed the risks of possible Russian escalation against NATO countries, in particular the Baltic states. Trump himself denied that the warning about NATO or the Iran issue was the main purpose of the trip, calling Ratcliffe's visit "partly routine".
The Kremlin acknowledged that Putin was promptly briefed on the talks
Moscow officially confirmed the fact of the CIA Director's contacts with Russian intelligence services, but stated that there was no personal meeting with Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said that the Russian President was promptly briefed on the results of Ratcliffe's talks in Moscow. At the same time, the Kremlin did not publicly confirm "Agentstvo"'s claim that Putin initially left time in his schedule for a meeting and then declined it specifically because of the content of the American message.
Ratcliffe's visit on August 25 became the first known trip by a CIA Director to Moscow since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. The last time a US intelligence chief visited the Russian capital was in 2021, when then CIA Director William Burns warned the Kremlin about the consequences of a possible invasion of Ukraine.
Based on materials from: "Agentstvo", Axios
