President Donald Trump believes Vladimir Putin is being misled about Russia’s battlefield failures, prompting CIA Director John Ratcliffe to travel to Moscow to press the Kremlin toward negotiations, The New York Times reported.
President Donald Trump believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misled about the true scale of Russia’s military failures, The New York Times reported, prompting CIA Director John Ratcliffe to fly to Moscow to press the Kremlin toward negotiations.
The reported trip follows earlier accounts of a direct CIA-FSB channel in which Putin demanded Ukraine halt long-range strikes inside Russia, attacks on occupied Crimea, and strikes on Russian energy infrastructure while offering only a narrow reciprocal pause on Ukrainian energy and port facilities.
During the latest visit, Ratcliffe met with the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service and delivered a blunt assessment of Russia’s battlefield position. U.S. intelligence officials doubt Putin is receiving honest reports on Russian losses and the slowing offensive.
The CIA message emphasized that Russia’s gains have been minimal and costly. Over the past 18 months, Russian forces have captured only about 1 percent of Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian drones have sharply raised the price of Moscow’s advance, while the average time a Russian soldier survives on the front line is estimated at 20 to 35 minutes.
Before traveling, Ratcliffe assured Kyiv that Washington would not negotiate with Moscow behind Ukraine’s back. The United States used the intelligence channel in the hope that Putin would take the CIA director’s words more seriously.
The message carried no threats but warned that the war is growing increasingly expensive for Russia and that it is time to negotiate.
https://t.me/AnatoliyAmelin/16547