CIA Chief Ratcliffe Reportedly Would Not Resist if Trump Cut Intel to Ukraine
The United States has not officially stopped passing intelligence to Ukraine, but if President Donald Trump decides to do so, CIA director John Ratcliffe would not try to dissuade him, The Atlantic reported, as cited by European Pravda.
Last week Ukraine experienced first-hand what reduced US intelligence support could look like. There were reports of disruptions to the Starlink satellite network and to US early-warning systems, which deprived Ukraine of the ability to see some approaching Russian missiles and limited its ability to intercept them, according to sources familiar with the matter. A Ukrainian intelligence representative said he blames the Americans, though there is also evidence that technical failures caused the failed interception of at least some of the missiles.
What Ratcliffe would do
People who have worked with Ratcliffe said that if Trump went ahead, he would not try to persuade the president to reverse the decision, despite concerns at CIA headquarters. "Ukrainians do not see Ratcliffe as their protector. They know he works for a mercurial boss and that if Trump carries out his recent threat to halt intelligence support until Ukraine stops attacking Russian oil refineries, Ratcliffe will carry out that order," the article says.
CIA's role in Ukraine
Armed with US-supplied information, the Ukrainian military strikes deep inside Russia, and American intelligence satellites provide early warning of approaching missiles and drones. Among American personnel on the ground, "the CIA plays a leading role," a retired influential officer who often visits Ukraine told the outlet. With the CIA's help, Ukrainians have become too adept at striking Russia for Trump's taste, the piece says; an intelligence officer in the Baltic states said CIA operations are now "much more aggressive" than under the Biden administration.
Still, the CIA helped build the modern Ukrainian intelligence apparatus after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and officials in Kyiv said they trust Ratcliffe to tell Trump the truth about the war. More than a dozen current and former intelligence officials interviewed by The Atlantic in the US and Europe described Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence in Trump's first term, as keenly aware of the threat Russia poses not only to Ukraine but also to the United States and its allies.
Earlier threats
The Washington Post reported that the US threatened to stop supplying intelligence to Ukraine if Ukrainian forces carried out new strikes on Russian energy facilities. Zelensky confirmed on October 14, in an interview with NPR, that Ukrainian forces had received warnings and threats concerning intelligence sharing, but that the threats had not been carried out so far.
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