Diplomacy & Geopolitics
Trump says Putin will not attack NATO territory
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not going to be attacking” NATO territory, downplaying US media reports that Washington had warned Moscow against a possible Russian move against the alliance.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he had “had good talks” with Putin. Asked whether CIA Director John Ratcliffe had delivered a warning to Moscow during a rare visit, Trump said: “I don't want to comment on that, but they're not going to attack.”
The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported that Ratcliffe had sought to dissuade Russia from striking NATO, amid US intelligence assessments that Moscow could seek to test the alliance as tensions continue over the Ukraine war. The Journal reported that Putin could test NATO with a “limited assault” within the next few years.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports of a possible Russian attack on NATO as “scare stories” and said they had “nothing to do with reality”. Russia's foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin, quoted by state news agency TASS, confirmed he had met Ratcliffe but said there was “nothing unusual” about the meeting.
A senior European Union official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said European intelligence services “in general do not see any risk of an attack from Russia to the European countries” and that this assessment had not changed.
CBS News reported that Ratcliffe also discussed the six-month-old US-Israeli war on Russia's ally Iran during his Moscow visit. Trump also played down the need to punish Russia for trading with Tehran, saying Russia had “behaved quite well” over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Wednesday that Ratcliffe's trip was “semi-routine” and indicated it was linked to broader moves to end Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Ratcliffe is one of the highest-ranking US officials to visit Russia since the war began.
Update
CBS News reported that CIA Director John Ratcliffe also discussed the six-month-old US-Israeli war on Iran during his Moscow visit.
Trump described Ratcliffe's Moscow trip as “semi-routine” and indicated it was linked to broader efforts to end Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The item adds that Russia has repeatedly rebuffed Ukrainian demands for face-to-face Putin-Zelensky talks and has demanded Kyiv withdraw from the eastern Donbas region.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 19:28:56 UTC.
Update
Trump said in the Oval Office that Putin is "not going to be attacking a NATO territory".
Trump declined to confirm reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe delivered a warning to Moscow.
Trump played down the need to punish Russia for trading with Iran and said Russia had behaved "quite well" over the Strait of Hormuz.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 18:00:17 UTC.
Update
CBS News, citing multiple people familiar with the matter, reported that CIA Director John Ratcliffe also discussed Iran and warned of additional sanctions if the Strait of Hormuz did not reopen to shipping traffic.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would prefer to achieve its objectives in Ukraine by peaceful means but was continuing its offensive in the absence of that opportunity.
The White House did not respond to multiple AFP requests for comment.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 17:45:54 UTC.
Update
Donald Trump said Russia is “not going to attack” NATO territory.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 17:30:31 UTC.
Update
A senior EU official said European intelligence services see no risk of a Russian attack on European countries and that this assessment has not changed.
The official said there was no assessment that a threat to European NATO members was being prepared now.
The official said Russia was trying to create difficulties for EU countries and that hybrid and other attacks were expected to continue.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 16:35:24 UTC.
Update
A senior EU official said there were no signs Russia was preparing a military attack on NATO countries.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 15:37:34 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The content of Ratcliffe's talks in Moscow is partly based on media reports and was not confirmed by Trump.
The item does not establish whether Putin gave any direct commitment to Trump about NATO territory.
Source
AFP news report published on .