US media reports that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe flew from Riga to Moscow on a US Air Force plane on the 25th of August to take part in unannounced talks, writes the BBC.
Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, the 25th of August. Neither Washington nor Moscow has announced the purpose of the visit or the people the CIA director will meet. Face-to-face talks between high-level Russian and US officials are rare.
Flight tracking data shows that a large US Air Force cargo plane landed in Riga on the 25th of August from the US and headed for Moscow. BBC News has contacted the CIA, the White House and the Pentagon for comment.
A video posted on social media shows a C-17 cargo plane landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport. Videos purporting to show a diplomatic convoy moving through Moscow have also been released.
The US informed Ukraine before the trip that a high-ranking delegation would visit Moscow
and asked it to refrain from strikes while the Americans were in the Russian capital.
The visit will be Ratcliffe’s first visit to Russia as CIA director, but he has maintained contact with intelligence services in Moscow.
John Foreman, a former British military attaché in Moscow, told Radio 4’s Evening Programme that the visit could be part of an effort to de-escalate the situation, especially given that explosives found at Leipzig airport in August have been linked to Russia. Foreman said the Americans were not inclined to send such high-ranking officials to Moscow without prior notice. He added that the visa could also be linked to the release of Americans imprisoned in Russia.
Ratcliffe played a key role in the release of Ksenia Karelin, a dual Russian-American citizen who spent more than a year in Russian prison after being accused of supporting Ukraine. The CIA was also involved in the 2024 prisoner swap that freed Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Wheelan, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
Relations between Washington and Moscow have been strained since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Russia isolated from the international political scene and facing economic sanctions.
Ratcliffe is one of the most important US officials to visit Russia during Donald Trump’s second term. Trump met with Putin in Alaska in the summer of 2025, but the meeting did not yield the expected results. US-led peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have also reached an impasse.
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