The Kremlin says the CIA director held talks in Moscow with his intelligence counterparts

The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had held discussions with his intelligence counterparts in Moscow, a rare and secretive visit during a time of strained relations with Washington due to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Ratcliffe did not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was kept informed of the contacts at the intelligence agency level.

The CIA remained silent on the matter, and the White House also made no immediate statement. Russian state news outlets reported that a U.S. military aircraft landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Tuesday before departing later in the day. A Ukrainian official informed The Associated Press that Washington had alerted Kyiv about the delegation's arrival in Moscow and requested a temporary suspension of strikes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and some northern regions.

Peskov stated that intelligence agency contacts are positive, but Russia-U.S. relations are in a "profound crisis." Andrey Soldatov, an expert on Russia's security services, noted that such visits are uncommon, as official communication channels have been maintained since the 1980s. In 2021, a similar meeting took place between Ratcliffe and William Burns, the CIA Director, in Moscow just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.