Trump Says Putin Will Not Attack NATO Territory

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attack NATO territory, dismissing reports that Washington had warned Moscow against testing the alliance amid heightened tensions over the war in Ukraine.

Trump made the remarks after reports emerged that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow and urged Russian officials not to launch any attack against NATO members. The Kremlin rejected the reports as “scare stories” and said there was no basis for speculation about a potential Russian assault on the alliance.

“I've had good talks with him. He's not going to be attacking a NATO territory,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked whether Putin had agreed not to attack NATO territory.

The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported that Ratcliffe’s visit included discussions aimed at discouraging Moscow from targeting NATO, citing US intelligence assessments that Russia could attempt to test the alliance in the coming years.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Putin could potentially seek to test NATO through a “limited assault” within the next few years. Trump declined to comment directly on whether Ratcliffe had delivered such a warning, saying only that Russia “are not going to attack.”

Ratcliffe’s trip was reportedly the first visit by a CIA director to Moscow since 2021. Trump said the visit was “semi-routine” and linked it to broader diplomatic efforts aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin also sought to downplay the reports. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described speculation about a possible Russian attack on NATO as unfounded.

“A lot of such scare stories are being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality,” Peskov said during a daily briefing.

On Ukraine, Peskov said Moscow preferred to achieve its objectives through peaceful means but would continue its military operation in the absence of a diplomatic solution. Russia has continued to reject Kyiv’s calls for direct peace talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while demanding that Ukraine withdraw from parts of the Donbas.

During his Moscow visit, Ratcliffe also reportedly discussed the six-month-old US-Israeli war with Iran, a Russian ally.

Trump meanwhile said Russia had so far behaved responsibly regarding the Strait of Hormuz, despite his administration’s threat of economic measures against countries doing business with Iran if Tehran refuses to reopen the strategically important waterway.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergei Naryshkin also confirmed his meeting with Ratcliffe but described it as routine.

“Yes, the meeting did take place, but there is nothing unusual about it,” Naryshkin was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency TASS. He said the two discussed several issues within the responsibilities of their intelligence agencies, calling the discussions “quite a delicate and special matter.”

A senior EU official in Brussels likewise said European intelligence services currently saw no indication that Russia was preparing to attack a European NATO member.

Ratcliffe is among the highest-ranking US officials to visit Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His visit follows several trips to Moscow by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The previous CIA director known to have visited Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, when he warned Russian officials against invading Ukraine. Three months later, Russia launched its full-scale military offensive.

Ratcliffe’s visit comes as the war enters another tense phase, with Russian attacks continuing and US-brokered peace efforts showing limited progress. At the same time, Ukrainian drone strikes have increasingly targeted Russian infrastructure and economic assets.