DID Press: CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow on Tuesday for undisclosed talks with Russian officials, marking his first publicly known trip to Russia since becoming head of the U.S. intelligence agency.
The visit was initially kept under wraps, with U.S. officials declining to comment on Ratcliffe’s presence in Moscow or the purpose of his trip. The Kremlin later confirmed that the visit involved contacts between the U.S. and Russian intelligence services.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ratcliffe did not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Putin was briefed on the outcome of the discussions. Peskov did not disclose the subjects discussed.
The visit coincided with the arrival of a U.S. Air Force C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft had traveled from the United States via Riga, Latvia, before landing in Moscow. The plane later departed for Riga.
The purpose of the aircraft’s mission and the identity of everyone aboard were initially unclear. The CIA, Pentagon and U.S. Air Force declined to comment on the trip.
Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit comes amid stalled efforts to resolve the war in Ukraine and heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow, as well as broader U.S.-Russia disagreements over Iran and regional security.
The last publicly known visit to Moscow by a CIA director was in November 2021, when then-CIA Director William Burns traveled to the Russian capital and met senior Russian officials, including Putin.