CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow overnight Monday for talks with Russian officials, in a rare, unannounced visit that has drawn attention amid faltering U.S.-mediated efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, U.S. officials confirmed this week.
Flight-tracking data showed a U.S. government transport aircraft departing Joint Base Andrews outside Washington on Sunday evening and arriving in Moscow, reportedly via Latvia, before returning roughly eight and a half hours later. Neither the CIA, the Defense Department, the Air Force nor the White House offered comment on the trip, though several U.S. officials confirmed it had taken place.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence counterparts but did not meet President Vladimir Putin, adding that Putin had been briefed on the discussions. Peskov described U.S.-Russia relations as being in a “deep crisis” and said it was too early to say whether the talks would help ease tensions. He characterized the contact as occurring “more or less at the level of the special services.”
Ahead of the visit, U.S. officials asked Ukraine to pause drone and missile strikes on Moscow and other northern Russian cities from Monday through Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Kyiv was told in advance that a senior American official would be traveling to Russia, though it was not informed of Ratcliffe’s identity beforehand, the person said.
The trip marks the first known visit to Moscow by a sitting CIA director since William Burns met Putin in November 2021, weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It follows a pattern of high-profile travel by Ratcliffe, who met Venezuela’s interim president in Caracas earlier this year and visited Cuba in May, becoming the most senior Trump administration official to do so amid tightened U.S. sanctions on the island.
Speaking to reporters, President Donald Trump described the trip as “semi-routine,” dismissing suggestions that Ratcliffe had traveled to warn Russia against testing NATO’s resolve or to seek Moscow’s help easing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. “John Ratcliffe is a fantastic guy… he is not in there for any of the things that you said,” Trump said, adding that both Russia and Ukraine wanted to see the war concluded.
The visit comes as U.S.-brokered negotiations to end the nearly five-year war have stalled, with Moscow and Kyiv remaining far apart on core issues, including territorial demands. Analysts noted that face-to-face meetings between the two countries’ intelligence chiefs remain unusual and are typically reserved for high-stakes diplomatic signaling .
