Maybe because Russia is right now stuck in Ukraine.
Posted on 08/27/2026 3:21:41 PM PDT by McGruff
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attack a NATO country, and he played down media reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russian officials against such an attack earlier in the week.
"He's not going to attack a NATO territory," Trump said of the Russian leader while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.
Earlier in the day, Trump told Axios in a phone interview that there would be no such attack, and that Ratcliffe, who flew to Russia on Tuesday to meet briefly with intelligence counterparts, had not been dispatched to deliver any particular message.
"Ratcliffe sees his Russian counterpart once every six months or once every year. They have a very good relationship. There was no message and there was nothing unusual," Trump told the news outlet.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Maybe because Russia is right now stuck in Ukraine.
Push that narrative for the rubes, Tlozer
Oh sorry, Russia Strong!
Does a “visit” from Ratcliffe carry more weight that a “visit” from Rubio?
Yeah, attack with what? The whole Russian and Nork army I army are bogged down in Ukraine.
Communist China is helping Russia, to the level that Russia is very dependent on the Communist nation, even to the level of training Russian troops, and united in their eternal war against the Americans.
“China has become indispensable to Russia, giving Beijing growing leverage in one of the most consequential strategic partnerships threatening the United States and global stability. Rather than simply supporting Russia, Beijing is converting Moscow’s dependence into lasting military, technological, economic, and geopolitical advantages while avoiding the obligations of a formal alliance. China is using Russia’s reliance on its support to secure discounted energy, gain access to advanced military technologies, and absorb battlefield lessons from Ukraine.
China has become the decisive external enabler of Russia’s war in Ukraine. China’s oil purchases help fund the Russian government. Dual-use goods from China and Hong Kong keep Russia’s weapons programs running despite Western export controls. China has also reportedly provided satellite imagery to support Russian strike targeting and trained Russian personnel on drone operations. China’s diplomatic backing provides Moscow cover to sustain its war in Ukraine.
China and Russia have built an increasingly sanctions-resistant financial and economic relation-ship that has reduced, but not eliminated, Western leverage. Expanding renminbi (RMB)-based trade, alternative payment infrastructure, and layered sanctions-evasion networks have cut Russia’s economic isolation while deepening its dependence on China.
The China-Russia partnership has become the central pillar of an emerging authoritarian alignment seeking to erode trust in U.S. alliances and partnerships, weaken U.S. influence, and reshape the international order. Beijing and Moscow increasingly coordinate across diplomatic, military, economic, and technological domains while using institutions such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to promote an alternative international order less constrained by Western rules and institutions.”
“The partnership has become structurally asymmetric, with Russia increasingly dependent on China while Beijing preserves wide strategic freedom of action. The dependency runs primarily one way. China gains discounted energy, select Russian military technologies, operational lessons, and a partner in challenging the United States and NATO. At the same time, Beijing avoids binding alliance commitments that would obligate it to match Russia’s risk taking or directly share the costs of Moscow’s aggression.”
Pres. Trump confirms what we all knew, all along -
Pootin was bluffing when he said the UK might get attacked
Not that I would trust Russia (or NATO) but they seem pretty stuck in the mud of Ukraine
I doubt they need to open another front at this point.
What “NATO territory”?
I think that would depend on the message or situation.
The more Trump downplays this, the more speculation will grow.
That little incident with the 787 in Munich a few days ago is a bit suspicious, but maybe some of our FReepers with experience with 787’s and electronic control of braking a large aircraft will have some input. (The brakes came on for a bit, went back off, then came back on - all the way to the end of the runway, during a takeoff run. It was quite dicey for the plane to get off the ground.)
Everywhere I look:
“Russia is bogged down in Ukraine”
“China has a paper tiger. They won’t invade Taiwan because they couldn’t win”
“Columbia and Cuba can’t stand in their own”
“The US is out of weapons. It can’t win it’s current engagements”
Doesn’t seem to stop anything.
Maybe he had something he wanted to show the Russians which Rubio isn’t allowed to see?
I wonder how that relationship will go if the Ukies keep rubbing out ever greater transport capacity for Russian oil?
Communist China is helping Russia, to the level that Russia is very dependent on the Communist nation, even to the level of training Russian troops, and united in their eternal war against the Americans.
Two sides to every coin. When the coin is eventually tossed, only one side is wins.
Those Russian drones that have been landing in Poland, Romania, and Lithuania don’t count.
And the Russian attacks in Moldova don’t count, either, since Moldova isn’t part of NATO. It’s not even in the EU, until the year after next.
Well that is a fact. Its the 1,645 day of Putin's invasion going on into the fifth year. There is no way anyone could have predicted that Russia would still be trying to invade Ukraine, a country with 1/3 the population, with no navy, no missile force and basically no air-force for more than 4 years. That's simply astonishing.
Funny. I never heard any reports of us running out of weapons during WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, or Iraq war.
Ironic in that you posted this fake news earlier today:
” Russia warned on Thursday that it could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia”
Who says it’s fake?
You BorisBots?
(read the article again ... Pres. Trump just said there WON’T be any Russian attack ... guess Director Radcliffe was quite effective!)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.