CIA director John Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow for unannounced talks on Tuesday in what is thought to be his first visit to Russia in the role, with the Kremlin confirming he did not meet President Vladimir Putin during the Ratcliffe Moscow CIA visit.
Flight tracking data confirmed a large US military aircraft travelled to Russia from the United States via Latvia. The C-17 transport plane departed Riga airport at 05:50 GMT and appeared to have landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo international airport at around 07:04 GMT, according to data from FlightRadar24. It left Moscow shortly before 16:00 GMT. Footage posted on social media purported to show the aircraft approaching Vnukovo and a diplomatic motorcade travelling through the Russian capital.
Ratcliffe met intelligence chiefs, not Putin
Neither Washington nor Moscow confirmed the nature of the visit or who Ratcliffe was scheduled to meet ahead of the trip. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov subsequently confirmed that Ratcliffe did not meet Putin, according to CNBC.
Ratcliffe met with SVR foreign intelligence chief Sergey Naryshkin and FSB director Alexander Bortnikov, according to Axios. In-person talks between high-level American and Russian officials are rare, and Ratcliffe appears to be one of the highest-ranking US officials to visit Russia during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The BBC’s US news partner CBS first reported the visit. BBC News contacted the CIA, the White House and the Pentagon for comment.
Zelensky briefed as summit proposal emerges
US officials briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the talks held during the Moscow visit, as well as a proposal for a trilateral summit, Axios reported. The disclosure underlines Ukraine’s stake in any direct dialogue between Washington and Moscow, even where Kyiv was not party to the discussions.
The United States had also asked Ukraine to refrain from striking Moscow, St Petersburg and northern Russia for the duration of the delegation’s visit, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.
Background: stalled peace efforts and prior prisoner swaps
The US has had strained relations with Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia has since faced international economic sanctions and broad isolation on the world stage. Subsequent US-led peace talks between Russia and Ukraine appear to have stalled. Trump met Putin at a summit in Alaska but that meeting did not produce a breakthrough.
Ratcliffe has maintained contact with his intelligence counterparts in Moscow. He played a role in negotiations for the release of Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina, who was jailed in Russia for over a year after being accused of providing support to Ukraine.
The CIA was also involved in a 2024 prisoner swap deal with Russia that secured the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
US officials briefed Zelensky on the outcome of the Ratcliffe Moscow CIA visit and the trilateral summit proposal, with the precise terms of any such proposal not yet publicly confirmed.
