CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Russia aboard a US military C-17 transport aircraft for meetings in Moscow on Tuesday, according to CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs.
The visit would mark the first known trip to the Russian capital by a US intelligence chief since Ratcliffe’s predecessor, William Burns, held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2021.
About three months after that meeting, Putin launched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ratcliffe’s reported Moscow visit
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed nor denied the report, telling Reuters that Putin did not plan to meet with Ratcliffe.
A source familiar with the details of Ratcliffe’s trip told The Jerusalem Post that Trump administration officials had asked Ukraine several days earlier to pause any strikes against Moscow and other cities from Monday through Wednesday.
The large Boeing C-17 Globemaster, bearing the US-registered tail number 07-7181, flew directly from Riga, Latvia, and landed in Moscow at around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.
Unverified footage posted on X appeared to show the aircraft on its approach to Moscow.
According to CBS, a US diplomatic motorcade was also spotted at the Moscow airport.
Flightradar24 data later showed the aircraft departing Moscow and heading back towards Riga on Tuesday.
First direct US aircraft flight to Russia since January
The C-17’s arrival marked the first direct flight by a US-registered aircraft from Europe to Russia since January this year.
The previous direct flight carried special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Russia for peace talks with Putin over the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said last week that it had no information about another visit to Moscow by Kushner and Witkoff, as talks between the US and Russia on Ukraine have largely stalled.
