Politico reports:

CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russian officials in Moscow this week not to escalate conflict with America’s NATO allies, in particular Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in response to Moscow’s stalemated invasion of Ukraine, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. spy chief also used the rare, unannounced trip to the Russian capital on Tuesday to press Russia to reduce military and economic support for Iran, according to one of those two people and a U.K. official with knowledge of the trip.

All three people were granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

News of Ratcliffe’s trip to Russia, which the administration did not officially acknowledge until this morning, had sparked rampant speculation in Washington and Europe because it marked the first such known trip to the Russian capital by a CIA director under President Donald Trump. In late 2021, then-President Joe Biden’s spy chief, Bill Burns, warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against invading Ukraine. Russian forces stormed across the border three months later.

Ratcliffe’s visit comes as Russia and Ukraine have exchanged an intensifying series of drone and missile strikes miles beyond the front lines of the fighting. Russia has also issued a series of threats in recent weeks against NATO countries that support Ukraine, sparking fear that Moscow could pursue newly aggressive hybrid warfare measures or limited military action against NATO allies, including the U.K.

His “meeting was primarily to warn Russia against any escalatory action against the Baltic states,” said the first person familiar with the matter. [Continue reading…]