CIA director John Ratcliffe embarked on a trip to Moscow on Tuesday to engage in discussions with Russian officials, as reported by various U.S. media sources. This visit marks the first known instance of a U.S. intelligence chief visiting the Russian capital since Ratcliffe’s predecessor, William Burns, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2021, just three months before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Reports from 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 under discussion. Additional coverage from ABC News, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal corroborated the occurrence of the meeting.
Both the CIA and the Kremlin remained tight-lipped about the visit. While the CIA declined to offer any comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed nor denied the reports, stating that Putin had no scheduled meeting with Ratcliffe.
In a separate development, the U.S. recently requested Ukraine to refrain from conducting airstrikes around Moscow, St. Petersburg, and certain northern Russian territories during a specific timeframe to facilitate the arrival of a senior U.S. official in the Russian capital. The request, as reported by a knowledgeable source, was first disclosed by the Financial Times.
Moreover, the U.S. administration issued warnings to countries to sever business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions, intensifying economic pressure as part of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran initiated in February.
Notably, the U.S. currently lacks an ambassador to Russia. This absence is significant given Russia’s robust strategic alliance with Iran, characterized by extensive military, economic, and diplomatic cooperation. Tehran’s provision of drones to Moscow for the conflict in Ukraine underscores the depth of their relationship.
In a related context, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of supplying similar drones to Iran in March. A Ukrainian intelligence report in April, cited by Reuters, alleged that Russia had furnished Iran with satellite imagery for targeting U.S. facilities in the Middle East. Despite these allegations, Moscow has denied any involvement in such activities and expressed willingness to assist in resolving tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
