CIA Director Travels to Moscow in an Unannounced Visit Neither Government Confirms

John Ratcliffe, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), travelled to Moscow on Tuesday for a visit lasting several hours, according to American media reports summarised by Israel's Ynet. Washington did not confirm the details at the time, though American officials had informed Kyiv in advance of the intention to send a senior delegation.

The Kremlin has since confirmed the visit took place. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Ratcliffe met Russian intelligence officials rather than President Vladimir Putin, and that Putin had been briefed on the outcome of the talks. Peskov declined to give further detail and said it was too early to say whether the contact could help pull US-Russia relations out of what he described as a deep crisis. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Ratcliffe flew from Riga to Moscow on a US Air Force aircraft, and that analysts expect a trip like this to involve high-priority requests, likely including Russian support for Iran, the stalled Ukraine negotiations, and detained Americans.

The last known visit to Moscow by a CIA director was by William Burns, then the agency's director, in November 2021, three months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ynet also reported, citing the Daily Mail, that the British prime minister received a warning about a possible direct Russian response over assistance to Ukraine. ABC News reported that Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and other Russian regions resumed within hours of Ratcliffe's departure, striking a warehouse and an oil refinery.

Direct intelligence channels between Washington and Moscow have operated intermittently throughout the war. What distinguishes this visit is that the Kremlin, unusually, confirmed it took place and named the category of officials involved, while the substance discussed, on Iran and on Ukraine, remains undisclosed by either side.