Lithuania briefed ahead of CIA chief’s Moscow trip

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that Vilnius had been informed in advance about CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow.

Nausėda made the statement during a joint press conference with European Council President António Costa, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

"Yes, we knew. I do not want to discuss the content of the meeting, because first of all this is the meeting between these countries and this is the object of their discussions. We were informed from our partners that information about the meeting, its goals, and its content will be provided to us without delay, so practically next week," the Lithuanian president said.

In his view, the meeting was aimed at reducing geopolitical tensions in the region.

"I can only think that this meeting is dedicated to relieving geopolitical tensions, and I am very positive about that," Nausėda said.

Costa, however, declined to comment on the visit to journalists.

"This is a visit by a representative of a United States agency to a third country, and we have no comments," he said.

As previously reported, CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow on August 25 in an unannounced visit. Neither the CIA nor the White House has commented on its purpose.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Ratcliffe had arrived in Russia for "contacts between intelligence services."

The previous visit by a CIA director to Moscow took place in November 2021.

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