U.S. media reported on August 12 that CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow, amid a deadlock in U.S.-mediated peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
CBS News, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow on Tuesday. Axios also confirmed the visit, highlighting it as the highest-level trip by a Trump administration official to Russia since January.
However, the outlets did not specify whom Ratcliffe was expected to meet or the agenda of the discussions. Reuters, citing a source, said the CIA declined to comment on the report.
Earlier, flight-tracking websites registered a U.S. military transport aircraft flying from Riga, Latvia, to Moscow. Flightradar24 data showed a C-17 departing Riga airport at 05:50 GMT and landing near Moscow at 07:04 GMT on Tuesday. The aircraft, believed to be carrying Ratcliffe, later left Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday denied reports of planned talks between Moscow and U.S. envoys this week. "No, there are no such plans," Peskov told reporters. Asked about the U.S. military plane landing in Moscow, he said he had no information on the matter.
Ratcliffe's visit, if confirmed, would mark the first time a CIA director has traveled to Moscow since William Burns' trip in 2021.
The move follows Russia's release earlier this month of former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, detained since 2022 due to health concerns. Ratcliffe has reportedly played a central role in high-level prisoner swaps between the U.S. and Russia since Trump took office, including the release of dual U.S.-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina.
Axios also reported, citing a source familiar with the matter, that Washington had given Ukraine advance notice of the high-level delegation's visit to Moscow and urged Kyiv to pause attacks until the delegation departed. The Iran conflict was also a hot topic between Washington and Moscow, the latter being an ally of Tehran.
