CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow for contacts between security services, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, The Washington Post writes, citing UNN.
Details
According to the publication, citing people familiar with the matter, CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow on Tuesday in a rare visit by the head of a U.S. intelligence agency, amid the fifth year of Russia's war against Ukraine.
U.S. officials did not announce Ratcliffe's trip, but publicly available flight-tracking data recorded a U.S. government transport aircraft traveling from Joint Base Andrews on the outskirts of Washington to Russia's capital. The aircraft departed Moscow approximately eight and a half hours later, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.
Why did the CIA director fly to Moscow on a C-17 capable of carrying 77 tons?26.08.26, 03:38
Spokespeople for the CIA, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Air Force declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear what the purpose of the trip was or whether any other senior U.S. officials were part of the delegation.
Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow coincided with a tense period in relations between the United States and Russia. Russia and Ukraine have intensified long-range strikes against each other's territory, and there is no end to the war in sight, the publication writes. Some analysts warn that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin may resort to escalation through a military "probe" against the Baltic countries or other NATO members, which could lead to a new crisis.
As the publication notes, "the two superpowers are on opposite sides of the conflict involving Iran. Iran is Moscow's most important ally in the Middle East, and Russia has provided Tehran with intelligence on the location of U.S. military assets in the region." On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a major campaign of sanctions and diplomatic pressure aimed at strangling Iran's economy.
The Kremlin remained silent about the visit. Asked about the purpose of Ratcliffe's visit, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Post that it involved "contacts between security services" and declined to provide any additional details.
Earlier on Tuesday, he said that the Kremlin had no information about a U.S. military aircraft that had arrived at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. Russia did not plan to meet with representatives of the U.S. administration this week, he said.
CBS News had previously reported on Ratcliffe's visit to Russia.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe departed for Moscow aboard a C-1725.08.26, 17:25
The last known visit by a CIA director to Moscow took place in November 2021, when William J. Burns, who headed the agency under President Joe Biden, warned Putin and his top aides not to attack Ukraine and clearly explained what the consequences would be. Moscow launched a full-scale invasion within a few weeks.
The U.S. aircraft that arrived in Moscow, a C-17A Globemaster III, is a heavy transport aircraft operated by the U.S. Department of Defense. The aircraft is particularly valuable for confidential diplomatic visits, allowing leaders to bring a specialized complement of vehicles, electronic equipment, and support personnel, the publication writes.
A second U.S. Air Force aircraft, a C-40B, also departed from Joint Base Andrews and landed in Riga several hours after the C-17A arrived in the country.
Publicly available flight-tracking data do not show the C-40B on a subsequent flight to Moscow. The aircraft is a modified business jet used to transport senior government officials.
A video shared on social media Tuesday and geolocated by The Washington Post showed a motorcade, some of whose vehicles had red diplomatic license plates, traveling east along Novy Arbat in central Moscow near a building belonging to Russia's armed forces.
The C-17A departed Moscow shortly after 5:30 p.m. local time and landed in Riga a little more than an hour later, according to Flightradar24 data.