CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow this week for discussions between US and Russian intelligence services, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Ratcliffe’s presence in the Russian capital was first reported after flight-tracking data showed a US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III travelling from Joint Base Andrews to Riga before continuing to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Tuesday. A convoy carrying US diplomatic plates was later seen in central Moscow.
Legacy media outlet CBS News subsequently reported that Ratcliffe was in the city for meetings, citing people familiar with the visit. His stay reportedly lasted around eight hours, although it remains unclear whether other senior American officials accompanied him.
Asked about the purpose of the trip, Peskov described it simply as “contacts between security services” and declined to elaborate. He separately told TASS that no meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin had been scheduled.
Peskov later said Putin had been informed about the discussions and characterised direct engagement between the two countries’ intelligence agencies as “a positive phenomenon.” However, he cautioned that it was “too early to say” whether the talks could contribute to improving the wider relationship between Moscow and Washington, which he described as being in a “deep crisis.”
Neither side has publicly disclosed the substance of the meetings. Media speculation has suggested possible topics could have included prisoner negotiations, efforts surrounding the Ukraine conflict, the war involving Iran and broader strategic-security issues.
Ratcliffe’s previous publicly acknowledged contact with senior Russian intelligence officials came in March 2025, when he spoke by telephone with Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergey Naryshkin. Russia’s SVR said at the time that both sides had agreed to maintain dialogue aimed at reducing tensions and supporting international security and stability.
Tuesday’s visit is believed to be the first known trip to Moscow by a serving CIA director since William Burns travelled there in November 2021. Burns later met Naryshkin in Ankara in November 2022, where discussions reportedly focused on the risks of nuclear escalation and Americans detained in Russia.
