Trump personally dispatched CIA chief to Russia — WSJ

NEW YORK, August 28. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has personally dispatched CIA chief John Ratcliffe to Russia, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) newspaper wrote, citing US officials.

The officials said that Ratcliffe’s mission was "so sensitive" that even some White House officials had no prior knowledge of it.

Even Trump’s trusted aides and military leaders, who normally would have been informed about such trips, have been kept in the dark about the message that he was expected to deliver to the Kremlin.

Sources told the WSJ that European officials had to look up for information on that after the visit had already taken place.

Citing two European officials, the newspaper wrote that Ratcliffe had informed his Russian colleagues about his country’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5 on collective defense.

Besides, he discussed Russia’s cooperation with Iran and activation of talks with Ukraine, unnamed US and European officials were quoted as saying.

Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), confirmed on August 27 that he had held a meeting with Ratcliffe when the former visited Moscow. He said they had discussed issues within the purview of intelligence agencies.