This Is Exactly Why the CIA Director’s Level Is Used: Klimkin on Ratcliffe’s Visit to Russia

UNIAN John Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia as CIA director is 100% related to warnings for Russian President Vladimir Putin. This opinion was expressed by diplomat Pavlo Klimkin in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

"But this is more related to raising the stakes regarding today’s Russia’s hybrid influence on NATO space. And it’s not just about the drone in Leipzig. And I understand we will hear some interesting things in the foreseeable future. And there are several such cases every day. They just aren’t publicized. And perhaps U.S. intelligence has information about further escalation of the stakes," he said.

In his view, Putin always believed that time was on his side, that he would wear down both Ukraine and the West — and eventually squeeze them out.

"Now I believe time is strategically working against him. These are definitely high stakes, this is an escalation of the stakes, it’s the possibility of either de-escalation of some issues based on warnings and offers, or these are some warnings regarding retaliatory actions. This is exactly why the CIA director’s level is used. And when John Ratcliffe comes, that means, first, he has Trump’s endorsement, he has the endorsement of the people who shape foreign policy around Trump. That’s Vance, Rubio. It’s a small group of people. Around Trump the number of people who can tell him something, I understand, is not that large. And that means it was a serious conversation," Klimkin explained.

He is confident that Ukraine was indeed part of the discussion.

"One hundred percent. Right now what is happening in the space of Western Asia — what we sometimes like to call the Middle East — and what is happening around us: these two realities are increasingly overlapping. In terms of influence. We, for example, are currently present in the Gulf countries with our technologies and our people. Iran is trying to say that with our ships passing through the Caspian. For them, the Caspian is a strategic line that links them today with Russia," the diplomat noted.

According to him, in fact many things — what happens around Ukraine and what happens there — are increasingly connected. So if they talked about Iran, they also talked about us. He added:

"100%, they probably talked about Europe, because many people tell the Americans that all these Russian drone tricks — the ones that fly, that take off from gray tankers — threats to critical infrastructure. That’s something that affects the entire West."

Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia

Earlier media reported that Ratcliffe secretly visited Moscow this week, and that some senior aides to President Donald Trump did not even know about his trip in advance.

The decision to send Ratcliffe personally to Russia was made by Trump. The U.S. president deliberately limited the circle of people informed about the mission, although usually key White House advisers and military leadership are aware of such overseas trips by the intelligence chief.