CIA DIRECTOR RATCLIFFE MADE SECRET TRIP TO MOSCOW
CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday for undisclosed meetings with Russian officials.
Multiple US media outlets have confirmed the visit.
The US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III was spotted at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
Flight tracking data showed the plane traveled from Joint Base Andrews to Riga, Latvia, before heading to Moscow.
Neither Washington nor Moscow has confirmed whom Ratcliffe met or what was discussed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Putin did not plan to meet with Ratcliffe.
The US asked Ukraine to suspend strikes on Moscow and St Petersburg from August 24 to 26 while Ratcliffe was visiting.
A source told the Kyiv Independent that Washington does not believe in the strength of Putin’s air defences.
Ratcliffe’s visit comes as US-brokered peace talks with Ukraine remain stalled.
The CIA director previously negotiated the April 2025 release of US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina.
The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021.
Three months later, Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Claims are now spreading that Putin angrily ordered Ratcliffe out of Russia following the talks.
Claims are also spreading that the US Embassy in Moscow has been ordered permanently closed.
We have not found authoritative confirmation of either claim and are not reporting them as fact at this time.
What began as an unexplained military flight into Moscow has become something far more significant.
The CIA director was on a rare mission for secret talks amid escalating tensions over Ukraine, NATO and Iran.
What happened inside those meetings and what happens next is now the story to watch.