CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow for meetings on Tuesday, according to U.S. media citing unnamed sources. Neither the U.S. government nor the Kremlin has officially confirmed the trip, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.
Flight tracking data showed a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport around 07:00 GMT after a direct flight from Riga, Latvia. The aircraft had arrived in Riga on August 23 from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. The Financial Times reported that Washington asked Ukraine to refrain from striking Moscow and other northern Russian areas on Monday through Wednesday to facilitate a senior official's visit.
The journey marks the first direct U.S.-registered flight to Russia from Europe since January, when envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow for Ukraine peace talks with President Vladimir Putin. Trump said on August 11 he had secured the release of detained former Marine Robert Gilman through personal discussions with Putin.