CIA chief travels to Moscow for unannounced talks, US media reports
CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow on a military plane for unannounced talks on Tuesday, amid strained US-Russia relations.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow for unannounced talks on Tuesday.
- Flight data confirmed a US military transport aircraft flew to Russia via Latvia.
- In-person high-level talks between American and Russian officials remain rare.
The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe, has travelled to Moscow for unannounced discussions, according to reports from the BBC's US news partner CBS. This trip is believed to mark Ratcliffe's first visit to Russia as CIA director, although he has maintained ongoing communication with his intelligence counterparts in the Russian capital.
Ratcliffe reportedly touched down in the Russian capital earlier on Tuesday aboard a US military aircraft. Neither Washington nor Moscow has officially confirmed the purpose of the visit or disclosed who he was scheduled to meet, making high-level in-person diplomacy between the two nations a notable occurrence.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Flight tracking data verified that a large US military transport plane departed Riga airport in Latvia at 05:50 GMT and landed in Moscow at approximately 07:04 GMT on Tuesday, before returning shortly before 17:00 GMT. Social media footage also captured the C-17 transport aircraft approaching Moscow's Vnukovo international airport alongside a diplomatic motorcade moving through the city.
Analysts suggest the trip could potentially revolve around the release of US detainees currently held in Russia. Ratcliffe previously contributed to negotiations that freed Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina, and the CIA was also instrumental in the 2024 prisoner swap that secured the freedom of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Bilateral relations have remained severely strained since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which isolated Moscow internationally and triggered heavy economic sanctions. Ratcliffe's visit stands out as one of the highest-level engagements by a US official during President Donald Trump's second term, following stalled peace efforts and an inconclusive summit in Alaska.
Source: BBC World
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