Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, an influential voice in the European security debate, told Euronews he is sceptical that the US dispatched CIA Director John Ratcliffe to warn Russia against escalation, arguing that Washington remains more concerned about Iran.
In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Ilves said he had “severe doubts” that concerns over the Baltic states were the reason for Ratcliffe’s visit, despite a flurry of reports suggesting Washington wanted to send Moscow a message against any form of aggression.
“What is the real problem for the United States right now? The real problem is Iran, the fact that the Russians are giving targeting information to the Iranians,” he said.
“Those are real problems for the United States, and that would be sufficient to warrant the director of the CIA to go to Moscow to tell them to back off.”
US media reported that the CIA director was sent to warn Moscow against attacking NATO members, amid concerns that Russia could seek to test the alliance, potentially by targeting Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania.
