CIA director John Ratcliffe embarked on a trip to Moscow on Tuesday for discussions with Russian officials, according to reports from various U.S. media sources. This visit marks the first known instance of a U.S. intelligence head visiting the Russian capital since Ratcliffe’s predecessor, William Burns, engaged in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2021. Approximately three months after that meeting, Putin initiated Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Reports from outlets such as CBS News and Axios confirmed Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow. Ratcliffe, who previously served as the director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, did not disclose the specifics of his meetings or the topics expected to be addressed. Additional coverage from ABC News, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal corroborated the occurrence of the meeting.
Both the CIA and the Kremlin declined to provide official comments. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, neither confirmed nor denied the report, stating that Putin had no scheduled meeting with Ratcliffe. Last week, the U.S. advised Ukraine against launching airstrikes around Moscow, St. Petersburg, and certain northern regions of Russia due to the arrival of a senior U.S. official in Moscow.
A source familiar with the situation revealed that the U.S. government issued this advisory to Ukraine to ensure the safety of the U.S. official’s flight to the Russian capital. The source, however, refrained from disclosing any further details. The Financial Times initially reported the U.S.’s communication with Ukraine.
In a separate development, the U.S. urged countries to sever business ties with Iran or face potential secondary sanctions. This move is part of an effort to intensify economic pressure as part of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran initiated in February.
Interestingly, the U.S. currently lacks an ambassador to Russia, a nation that maintains strong strategic ties with Iran encompassing significant military, economic, and diplomatic collaborations. Notably, Tehran supplied Moscow with drones to support its military operations in Ukraine.
In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of providing similar drones to Iran. An intelligence evaluation from Ukraine, as reported by Reuters in April, indicated that Russia assisted Iran by sharing satellite imagery for targeting U.S. facilities in the Middle East. Despite these claims, Moscow has denied any involvement and expressed readiness to assist in resolving the U.S.-Iran tensions.