&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Why was CIA chief John Ratcliffe in Moscow? Kremlin denies US talks amid reports of hush-hush visit")
CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow on Tuesday (Aug 25) for an unannounced visit, according to US media reports, in what would be the highest-level trip by a Trump administration official to Russia since January.
CBS News first reported Ratcliffe's presence in the Russian capital, citing people familiar with the matter. Axios separately confirmed the visit, quoting a US official.
Neither Washington nor Moscow has publicly explained why Ratcliffe travelled to Russia or who he was expected to meet.
US military aircraft flew from Riga to Moscow
The reported visit was accompanied by the unusual movement of a US government aircraft. Flight-tracking data showed a US military C-17 flying from Joint Base Andrews to Latvia before continuing to Moscow. The aircraft left Riga at around 05:50 GMT and arrived in Moscow at about 07:04 GMT. The same aircraft later departed Moscow after spending roughly 8.5 hours on the ground.
Kremlin says no US talks planned
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This comes as the Kremlin said that there were contacts involving security services. Asked about the reported visit, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it involved "contacts between security services", according to The Washington Post.
At the same time, Peskov said Moscow had no plans to meet US administration representatives this week. "No, there are no such plans," he told reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday when asked about possible talks with US envoys.
Peskov also said he had no information about the US military aircraft that landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
Ratcliffe visit comes as Ukraine diplomacy stalls
The trip comes at a difficult moment in US-Russia relations, with American efforts to broker an end to Russia's war in Ukraine showing little visible progress. Russia and Ukraine have stepped up long-range strikes against each other, while concerns have also grown in Washington and Europe over the possibility of Moscow testing NATO's resolve elsewhere.
Axios reported that Washington had informed Kyiv that a senior US delegation was travelling to Moscow and had asked Ukraine to pause strikes for the duration of the visit.
Rare Moscow trip by a CIA chief
Ratcliffe's reported visit is particularly notable because trips by sitting CIA directors to Moscow are rare. The last known visit came in November 2021, when then-CIA director William Burns travelled to the Russian capital and warned President Vladimir Putin and senior officials against invading Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine just weeks later.
