Sinkevičius says he has no official information on CIA chief’s Moscow visit

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius says he is relying on unofficial contacts rather than confirmed information about CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s reported visit to Moscow.

Speaking after a meeting with coalition partners, Sinkevičius said his advisers had connections with U.S. officials but had not provided official documents or briefings. He declined to repeat information that could amount to interpretation or a distorted account. He also said he could not comment on what President Gitanas Nausėda knew, adding that the two had not yet discussed the matter.

Nausėda said earlier that allies had been informed about the content of Ratcliffe’s visit but could not make it public because of a U.S. request. The president said the visit aimed to reduce tensions in the region, while also arguing that it had received too much attention.

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I do not have official information in the form of briefings or otherwise.

Reports from U.S. media have described several possible purposes for the meetings. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News said Ratcliffe sought to persuade Russia not to attack NATO members, citing U.S. intelligence assessments that Moscow might try to test the alliance. ABC News reported that Iran was also mentioned, according to one source. The CIA declined to comment.

The New York Times, citing current and former U.S. officials, said Ratcliffe delivered unfavorable intelligence about Russia’s position in the war with Ukraine to FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov and urged him to accept a peace agreement before conditions worsened. Axios reported that Washington asked Ukraine to halt strikes against Russia while Ratcliffe was in Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Washington Post that the visit involved contacts between security services. Ratcliffe reportedly traveled from Riga on a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport aircraft, in what may have been his first Moscow visit as CIA director.

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I think the president perhaps said what we all probably already feel, that Moscow and Washington maintain relations in one form or another continuously.