The CIA Director showed Putin a forecast of Russia's economic collapse, similar to that of the Soviet Union

During a visit to Moscow, U.S. CIA Director John Retcliffe warned Russian leadership that, due to massive military spending, the country’s economy faces the same collapse that the Soviet Union experienced, and that Russia will not be able to win the war in Ukraine.

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Ratcliffe made this statement, citing an analysis by U.S. intelligence. Officials in Washington emphasize that they will not withdraw their support for Kyiv, and since the war has reached a stalemate on the front lines, the U.S. is insisting on negotiations.

Since the start of the invasion, the “special military operation” has cost Russian taxpayers 57 trillion rubles, which is equal to a quarter of the country’s current GDP. Economic growth in Russia has practically stalled, civilian sectors have been in decline for two years in a row, and the tens of trillions of rubles in loans issued by banks for military production are becoming non-performing.

In next year’s budget, the Russian government is planning to increase military spending by another third—to 17.1 trillion rubles—and the total cost of the invasion over three years will reach 74 trillion rubles. In terms of the share of military spending, Russia has already caught up with the USSR: the “national defense” line item in the draft budget accounts for 35% of all government spending, whereas the USSR’s 1990 budget allocated 29.4% to military purposes.

This is reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe was unable to persuade Vladimir Putin to make concessions regarding Ukraine during his visit to Moscow. According to The Washington Post, following the meetings, the Kremlin may, on the contrary, be preparing for a further escalation of the war.