CIA Chief John Ratcliffe Travels to Moscow for Talks with Russian Officials

CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for undisclosed talks with senior Russian officials, in a rare and unannounced visit that comes as US-mediated peace efforts over Ukraine remain stalled. Ahead of the trip, Washington reportedly asked Kyiv to temporarily suspend strikes on Moscow and other Russian targets, adding further intrigue to the secretive mission.

Axios writes about this, citing American officials.

It is Ratcliffe’s first trip to Moscow since his appointment as CIA director, and he is the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Russia since January.

According to the publication, before the visit, Washington informed Kyiv that a high-ranking American delegation was traveling to Moscow. Ukraine was asked to suspend strikes until the delegation left Russia.

Ratcliffe flew out of Washington on Sunday and first arrived in Latvia on a government plane. On Tuesday, he flew from Riga to Moscow on a U.S. Air Force C-17 military transport plane.

The CIA has not yet commented on its director’s trip.

As a reminder, on the morning of August 25, a US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.