Lithuanian minister says CIA chief delivered certain message to Moscow

Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas has stated that the CIA chief John Ratcliffe delivered a certain message to Moscow, although he did not specify what issue it concerned.

He said the meeting demonstrated US efforts to promote the security of Europe and Ukraine, Caliber.Az reports, citing Lithuanian media.

Earlier, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Vilnius had been informed about Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow and that details of the meeting were expected to be made public this week.

Earlier, Axios reported that Ratcliffe proposed holding a trilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his covert trip to Moscow, seeking to help end the war.

The visit marked the first time Ratcliffe had personally become involved in diplomatic efforts to broker a breakthrough between Russia and Ukraine.

According to the sources, one of the main aims of Ratcliffe’s trip was to determine whether Russia’s intelligence chiefs Sergey Naryshkin could help persuade Putin to move toward resuming US-mediated negotiations with Ukraine.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov