Published on •Updated
CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly arrived in Moscow on an unannounced trip on Tuesday, according to US media outlets.
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CBS News reported that Ratcliffe was in the Russian capital, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Neither Washington nor Moscow have confirmed Ratcliffe’s presence, and it was not immediately clear who the US spy chief was expected to meet or what would be discussed.
News of the visit came after a US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport earlier in the day.
Flight-tracking data showed that the aircraft had arrived in Moscow from Riga. It landed in the Latvian capital on Sunday after departing from Camp Springs, Maryland, home to Joint Base Andrews near Washington.
The unexplained flight initially prompted speculation that senior US officials could be travelling to Moscow, including possibly President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have repeatedly held talks with Russian officials.
US diplomatic motorcade was also spotted travelling through the Russian capital after the aircraft landed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Tuesday that he had no information about the US military aircraft and that no meetings with representatives of the US administration were planned at the Kremlin this week.
First visit in five years
The reported visit comes just a day after Ukraine marked its 35th Independence Day, with European leaders travelling to Kyiv to demonstrate their support for the country defending itself from Russia’s ongoing all-out war.
No serving representatives of the Trump administration attended Monday’s events. Witkoff and Kushner did not attend either, despite earlier speculation that the anniversary could bring their first visit to Ukraine.
Neither envoy has travelled to Kyiv since taking a leading role in the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts, despite repeated meetings with Russian officials and Witkoff’s eight visits to Moscow.
Ratcliffe has maintained contacts with his Russian intelligence counterparts and previously participated in negotiations with Moscow.
He was directly involved in negotiations with a senior Russian intelligence official that led to the April 2025 release of US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina.
The last CIA director known to have travelled to Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
