CIA Director John Ratcliffe Makes Unannounced Trip To Moscow, US Media Report

MOSCOW —

A Rare Trip To The Kremlin

CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow on Tuesday for unannounced talks, CBS News reported, citing people familiar with the trip. Axios separately confirmed the visit, quoting a US official, according to The Guardian. Neither the CIA nor the White House has commented.

Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed a large US military C-17 transport plane leaving Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, stopping in Latvia, then continuing to Moscow's Vnukovo airport, landing around 7:04 a.m. GMT after departing Riga at 5:50 a.m. GMT, The Guardian reported. The plane returned to Riga by 5 p.m. GMT the same day. Social media footage showed a diplomatic motorcade moving through central Moscow, according to BBC News.

CBS News said it is the first known visit to Russia by Ratcliffe since he became CIA director. In-person meetings between senior American and Russian officials have been rare since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which triggered broad Western sanctions and left Moscow isolated internationally, BBC News reported.

Ukraine Talks Stalled, Motive Unclear

Neither US media outlet identified who Ratcliffe met or what was discussed, France 24 reported. The visit comes as US-brokered talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine have stalled, according to The Guardian. The Financial Times reported that the Trump administration had asked Ukraine to pause long-range strikes on major Russian cities while the visit was underway.

John Foreman, who served as Britain's military attaché in Moscow from 2019 to 2022, told the BBC's Radio 4 that Washington does not typically send an official of Ratcliffe's rank to Moscow without notice "unless something is up." He said the trip could involve managing tensions after recent drone incidents in Germany that some have linked to Russia, or could concern American detainees still held there.

Ratcliffe has been involved in past prisoner negotiations, including the release of Russian-American Ksenia Karelina and the 2024 exchange that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, BBC News reported. Russia freed another former US marine held since 2022 earlier this month, according to The Guardian.

The Guardian also noted that Iran remains a point of friction between Washington and Moscow; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new sanctions strategy against Iran on Monday. President Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last year, but the summit produced no breakthrough, BBC News reported.