The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, made a surprise visit to Moscow this Tuesday, according to officials from the Donald Trump Administration reported to US media. This is the first publicly known visit of the head of that secret service to the Russian capital.
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So far, the reason for the visit is unknown, which took place as the United States tries to end the war in Iran and has threatened secondary sanctions on countries that help Tehran shore up its economy. Russia is one of the main supporters of the Islamic Republic.
The CIA director’s trip also came when peace negotiations for Ukraine have been stalled for months and there are no signs of a restart. Meanwhile, US intelligence reports indicate that Russian President Vladimir Putin is increasingly willing to test NATO and the Trump Administration through a series of provocations in Alliance countries, which could include hybrid operations without an outright military attack.
Before Ratcliffe’s visit, the United States had notified Ukraine that a high-level delegation would visit Russia and had asked Kiev to refrain from launching attacks until that delegation had left.
The CIA chief’s visit changed the Russian president’s plans. According to what Moscow leaked to its media, Putin canceled an event with hundreds of people a few days ago that coincided with the reception of the US senior official, reports Javier G. Cuesta.
The news of the trip became known after a US military transport plane was seen at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, from where a US motorcade was seen leaving. The plane that transported Ratcliffe left Moscow after 7:00 p.m. local time (12:00 noon Spanish peninsular time), according to the Ministry of Defense channel Zvezdá. It is unknown if the CIA chief also left the country on that plane.
US officials have not revealed who Ratcliffe met during his visit. It is unusual for a director of the US Central Intelligence Agency to travel to Moscow. And when they do, it is for a weighty reason. The most recent visit known was that of Ratcliffe’s predecessor in the position, William Burns, in 2021, in which the senior official warned Russian authorities against an invasion of Ukraine. Moscow ignored the warning and ended up ordering its troops to cross the border in February 2022.
The CIA has also played an important role in the past in efforts to free Americans held in Russia, including the 2024 exchange that freed Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershovich, Radio Free Europe reporter Almu Kurmasheva, and former Marine Paul Whelan.
Ratcliffe is part of the circle of national security advisors most valued by the US president. In May, the CIA director also made a surprise trip to Havana to meet with Cuban authorities and deliver a direct message from the Republican: the United States is willing to seriously address economic and security issues, but only if Cuba undertakes fundamental changes in the political and economic spheres. Since then, according to The New York Times, that US secret service has increased its operational resources on the island in recent months to intensify the operation that facilitates the leadership change desired by the Trump Administration.
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