CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow on Tuesday for unannounced meetings with Russian officials, the first visit to Russia by a sitting CIA director since William Burns traveled there in November 2021, three months before Russia invaded Ukraine.
The trip surfaced only after flight trackers picked up a US Air Force C-17 that left Joint Base Andrews on Sunday, stopped in Riga, Latvia, and continued to Moscow on Tuesday morning, landing at Vnukovo airport around 10 a.m. local time. Ratcliffe spent about four hours on the ground before flying back out.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that day that Moscow had no plans to host US officials and had no knowledge of the incoming aircraft.
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Ahead of the trip, the Trump administration asked Ukraine to hold off on long-range strikes against Moscow and other Russian cities from Monday through Wednesday, telling Kyiv only that a senior US official would be traveling in Russia.
US intelligence agencies have picked up signals that Russia could be laying groundwork for a fresh mobilization push and considering ways to probe NATO’s resolve. Beth Sanner, a former US deputy director of national intelligence, said Ratcliffe’s message to Putin could have been as simple as saying “we know what you are thinking about doing, and you better not.”
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Trump administration “Special Envoys for Peace Missions” Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner flew to Moscow for talks with Putin in January, though the Kremlin said last week it had no information about another visit from either envoy.
