CIA director John Ratcliffe made a short visit to Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Russian officials for talks not announced by the White House or the Kremlin, according to multiple US reports.
The large US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III took off from Riga in Latvia on Tuesday morning before flying across the border into Russian airspace and landing at Vnukovo International Airport, according to data from Flightradar24.
It is thought to be Ratcliffe’s first known trip to Russia since taking up the position as intelligence chief last January.
The last time a US spy chief visited Moscow was in November 2021 when Ratcliffe's predecessor, William Burns, held talks with Vladimir Putin; three months later, the Russian president invaded Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that he did not have any further information about the aircraft when pressed by reporters.
US media, including Axios and CBS citing unnamed sources, later reported that Ratcliffe was on board the plane in order to attend meetings but did not say with whom or what the talks are expected to be about.
The US told Ukraine to suspend strikes while a senior delegation travelled to Moscow, a source told Axios,
Donald Trump has not commented on the visit and the CIA declined to comment,
The heavy transport plane is designed for carrying troops and military equipment and arrived in Latvia on Sunday from the US Camp Springs airbase near Washington DC, according to the flight tracking website.
The last time a US registered jet took off to Russia from Europe was in January earlier this year when special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held peace talks with Putin on Ukraine.
It comes a day after Andy Burnham’s declaration of unwavering support for Ukraine “despite Russia’s outrageous threats to my country” during his first trip to Kyiv.
The prime minister called for further economic sanctions on Russia and said that “this is the moment to keep up the pressure” on Moscow.
Tensions have been mounting between Russia and Europe as the Kremlin again rejected any possible deployment of Nato troops in Ukraine, calling the suggestion “unacceptable”.
A meeting of Europe’s “Coalition of the Willing” was held on Monday in order to rally support for Ukraine where the proposal was discussed.
US-brokered negotiations have largely stalled since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has diverted significant resources and time away from the war in Ukraine.
Last month it was reported that FBI director Kash Patel is to be hosted by KGB officials in Moscow in October but the agenda of the visit is yet to be disclosed.
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