Trump calls CIA chief’s Russia trip a ‘semi-routine’

Washington, Aug 27 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has dismissed speculation surrounding CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s unannounced visit to Russia, describing the trip as “very sort of semi-routine” while acknowledging that it could help efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump offered the explanation during an interview with conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck, who questioned him about reports that the CIA director had flown to Russia in the middle of the night.

Beck cited speculation ranging from a possible Russian test of NATO’s resolve to suggestions that Ratcliffe was carrying a US warning about sanctions connected with Iran.

“Yeah. Well, none of the above,” Trump said, rejecting the scenarios raised by Beck.

“He’s there on, you know, very sort of semi-routine. I hate to disappoint people,” the President said.

Trump did not disclose when Ratcliffe arrived, whom he was meeting or the precise purpose of the visit. He also did not indicate how long the CIA director was expected to remain in Russia.

The President, however, linked the visit broadly to his administration’s attempts to stop the fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

“We would like to see the war with Ukraine end,” Trump said.

Trump again argued that the conflict would not have begun had he been President when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He described the war as one of the consequences of his absence from the White House.

“That’s a war that would have never started if I were president,” he said. “That’s one of the negatives of not having it done that way.”

“But you wouldn’t have had the war with Ukraine, and you wouldn’t have had 25 million people coming into our country as they did, just come in like we were a bunch of fools,” he said.

Trump claimed the number of people who had entered the United States was even higher. He also alleged that some of them came from prisons or were involved in serious crimes.

The President then returned to Ratcliffe and praised his leadership of the Central Intelligence Agency.

“John Ratcliffe is a fantastic guy. He’s the head of the CIA,” Trump said.

“And he is not in there for any of the things that you said,” he added, again rejecting the possibilities outlined by Beck.

Trump nevertheless left open the prospect that Ratcliffe’s visit could produce diplomatic progress. He said his administration was working intensively to stop the war and asserted that both sides were now interested in ending it.

“Now, something may come out, you know, out of it. We’re working very hard to get that war ended,” Trump said.

“And frankly, they both want to see it ended at this point,” he added.

Trump provided no details about any negotiations, possible terms for ending the conflict or whether Ratcliffe was carrying a message directly from him. The interview also did not establish whether the CIA Director’s meetings were part of a wider diplomatic channel between Washington and Moscow.

Ratcliffe, a former Republican Congressman from Texas, previously served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term.

–IANS

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