CIA director flew secretly to Moscow for talks
The visit comes amid stalled US-led peace talks over Ukraine and rare direct contact between senior US and Russian officials.
Tuesday, 25 August 2026 20:45
CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow on Tuesday for unannounced talks, CBS, the US news partner of BBC News, reported.
Ratcliffe reportedly arrived in the Russian capital earlier on Tuesday. Neither Washington nor Moscow had confirmed the nature of the visit or who he was due to meet, and in-person talks between high-level American and Russian officials are rare.
Flight tracking data confirmed that a large US military aircraft travelled to Russia from the United States via Latvia on Tuesday. Footage posted on social media showed a C-17 transport plane approaching Moscow's Vnukovo international airport.
FlightRadar24 data showed the plane departed Riga airport at 05:50 GMT and appears to have landed at around 07:04 GMT.
The trip is thought to be Ratcliffe's first to Russia as CIA director. He played a role in negotiations for the release of Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina, who had been jailed in Russia for more than a year after being accused of providing support to Ukraine.
The CIA was also involved in a 2024 prisoner swap with Russia that released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
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