U.S. asked Ukraine to limit Russia strikes as CIA chief visits Moscow

The United States has made a request to Ukraine to limit its military strikes on Moscow, according to a report by Axios on August 25. This request is believed to be connected to CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow on the same day for confidential meetings with Russian officials. Christopher Miller, FT’s Ukraine correspondent, also confirmed the request, stating that the Trump administration had asked Kyiv not to launch attacks on Moscow, St Petersburg, and northern Russian regions during the period when a senior U.S. official would be en route to Moscow.

The Ukrainian government reportedly agreed to this condition. Ratcliffe's U.S. Air Force C-17 plane landed in Moscow on August 23 after arriving from Riga, Latvia, from Camp Springs, a U.S. air base near Washington. This marks the first time a U.S.-registered aircraft has directly traveled from Europe to Russia since January. The aircraft transported special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.