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U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with Russian officials, according to U.S. media reports, marking a rare high-level intelligence visit amid heightened tensions involving Russia, Ukraine and Iran.
CBS News and Axios reported that Ratcliffe, President Donald Trump’s CIA chief, made the trip to the Russian capital. Neither outlet identified the Russian officials involved or disclosed the expected agenda. The CIA declined to comment on the reported Moscow visit.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also declined to confirm or deny Ratcliffe’s presence, but said Russian President Vladimir Putin had no plans to meet the CIA director.
If confirmed, the trip would represent the first known visit to Moscow by a U.S. intelligence chief since former CIA Director William Burns met Putin in November 2021, roughly three months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The visit comes after Washington reportedly asked Ukraine to avoid air strikes around Moscow, St. Petersburg and parts of northern Russia from Monday through Wednesday because an aircraft carrying a senior U.S. official would be traveling to Moscow. The Financial Times first reported the request.
Ratcliffe’s reported talks also coincide with escalating U.S. pressure on Iran. Washington on Monday warned countries to reduce business ties with Tehran or risk secondary sanctions as the Trump administration seeks to increase economic pressure on Iran amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict.
Russia maintains close military, economic and diplomatic relations with Iran, potentially making Moscow an important player in efforts to address the conflict. Iran previously supplied Russia with drones used in the Ukraine war, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Moscow in March of supplying Russian versions of those drones to Tehran.
A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reported in April also alleged that Russia provided Iran with satellite imagery that could assist in targeting U.S. facilities in the Middle East.
Moscow has denied providing such assistance and maintains that it is prepared to help facilitate a resolution to the U.S.-Iran conflict.
