US President Donald Trump said he does not believe Moscow will attack a NATO member state, pushing back against mounting concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin could strike a Baltic country or another ally to test the Western alliance's resolve.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on August 27, Trump said he had held "good talks" with Putin and that "he's not going to be attacking a NATO territory." He did not specify when those talks took place.

"I am not concerned...at all. There is no problem," Trump was quoted as saying earlier by the news publication Axios, when asked about a possible Russian provocation against a NATO state.

The president's remarks came as the Kremlin dismissed as "scare stories" reports in the US media suggesting Moscow could attack NATO, and followed a surprise visit to Moscow by the CIA director.

Article 5 Assurances

Western European security has long been tied to NATO's mutual defense clause, Article 5, which states that an attack on one member nation constitutes an attack on all. Many Western leaders and officials have expressed concern about Trump's commitment to the military alliance. The president has at times called into question a possible US response to an attack on a member state, while at other times reaffirming his support for NATO. The clause has been invoked only once in the alliance's history — after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Much of the concern centers on the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — former Soviet republics that joined NATO in 2004 and sit on the alliance's eastern edge, bordering Russia and its ally Belarus. Their only land link to other NATO members runs through a narrow corridor between Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave that allied planners have long flagged as a vulnerability.

A letter seen by RFE/RL reveals growing concern about Russian aggression in the Baltic states, describing a "deteriorating security environment" amid an "increased frequency of airspace violations and drone incursions."

The letter, dated July 30, was sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and signed by the three Baltic European commissioners — Kaja Kallas, Andrius Kubilius, and Valdis Dombrovskis — as well as the Polish and Finnish commissioners.

It was one of a series of alarm bells about Russian aggression sounded over the summer that culminated in CIA Director John Ratcliffe's surprise visit to Moscow on August 25. Ratcliffe flew to the Russian capital to urge the Kremlin against escalating with US allies — particularly Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — sources briefed about the visit confirmed to RFE/RL on August 26.

'Every Six Months'

Axios quoted Trump as denying that Ratcliffe had issued such a warning to the Russians.

"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 said.

Asked about the matter later by reporters in the Oval Office, however, the president appeared to back off: "I don't want to comment on that, but they're not going to attack [NATO]."

The New York Times, citing current and former officials, reported that Ratcliffe gave his Russian counterpart a bleak assessment of the state of Russia's war against Ukraine and urged the Kremlin to reach a deal before its military and economic situation becomes worse.

The Wall Street Journal earlier cited US intelligence as stating that Russia may test NATO's resolve with a limited incursion as early as this fall.

Baltic diplomats who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity confirmed there was additional intelligence during the summer of Russian false-flag operations but no indication of an imminent conventional attack. The diplomats were also keen to point out that such operations might not be limited to the Baltics, a concern reinforced by recent cases of alleged or suspected Russian involvement in assassination attempts, fires, and drone incursions in several NATO countries, including Germany, Poland, and Slovakia.

Allies Pressed on Europe's Defense

Separately, a senior Pentagon official on August 27 pressed NATO allies to outline how they were answering US demands that they take more responsibility for Europe's defense as Washington reviews its force levels on the continent.

The US administration under Trump has ignited fears among allies that the United States could cut back its forces in Europe following a six-month review that began in July.

Allies have already been moving in that direction: at their summit in The Hague in June 2025, NATO members committed to spending 5 percent of GDP a year on defense by 2035 — including at least 3.5 percent of GDP for core defense — a target Trump had pressed for. The Baltic states, which sharply increased military spending after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, already rank among the alliance's biggest defense spenders relative to the size of their economies.

"The spirit that we come in is obviously one...of consultation, of engagement. We want to hear from our allies," US Defense Under Secretary Elbridge Colby said during a visit for talks at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.

Washington has sent out a questionnaire asking European countries to explain their efforts in taking the forefront in protecting the continent. Those replies, along with the conclusions of the force-level review due roughly six months after it began in July, form the next concrete milestones in the debate over Europe's defense.

"We're actually having a kind of down-to-business conversation about how we go forward together in a world in which Europe, which is obviously a very wealthy continent, can and is taking primary responsibility for its own conventional defense," Colby said.

Reporting by RFE/RL