CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, has issued a grim warning to Russian leaders about the state of the economy, during a surprise visit to Moscow at the end of August. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung publication, Ratcliffe, citing data from the American Secret Services, tried to convince the Kremlin that Russia cannot economically win the war in Ukraine, which has already reached a stalemate on the front, writes The Moscow Times.
Ratcliffe’s message was that, due to massive military spending, Russia’s economy is facing the same collapse that the Soviet Union suffered after the Cold War, a high-ranking diplomat familiar with the information transmitted by the US to its Western partners told FAZ.
This would have been the main reason for Ratcliffe’s visit. The CIA director also stated that this conclusion forms the basis of the Donald Trump administration’s policy towards Ukraine.
“Therefore, Vladimir Putin should not expect Washington to give up its support for Kiev, and that’s why Trump insists on negotiations,” the source told FAZ.
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