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United States (US) President Donald Trump has dismissed reports that Russia could attack NATO territory, insisting Vladimir Putin will not target the alliance.
Trump made the comments on Thursday after reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had warned Moscow against attacking NATO.
“I’ve had good talks with him. He’s not going to be attacking a NATO territory,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported that Ratcliffe raised concerns over possible Russian military action against NATO during his rare visit to Moscow.
The Journal reported that Russia could test NATO with a limited attack within the next few years.
Trump declined to confirm whether Ratcliffe delivered the warning but insisted, “I don’t want to comment on that, but they’re not going to attack.”
The Kremlin also rejected the reports, calling them “scare stories” with no basis in reality.
“A lot of such scare stories are being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin confirmed that he met Ratcliffe, describing the meeting as a discussion of sensitive intelligence matters.
“Nothing unusual” had occurred during the meeting, Naryshkin said.
A senior EU official also said European intelligence services currently see no sign that Russia is preparing to attack a European NATO member.
The Ratcliffe visit was the first by a CIA director to Moscow since William Burns visited in November 2021.
The visit came as Russia continues its war in Ukraine, with peace talks stalled and military attacks increasing.
Trump also said Russia had “behaved quite well” regarding the Strait of Hormuz, despite Washington’s broader pressure on Iran and its trading partners.
