The Kremlin revealed the purpose of the CIA director's secret visit to Moscow (Updated)

The Kremlin stated that CIA Director John Ratcliffe came to Moscow for contacts between American and Russian intelligence agencies. At the same time, a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was not planned as part of the trip.

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov informed The Washington Post about this. However, he refused to disclose any additional details of the talks. Separately, Peskov told Russian media that there were no contacts between Ratcliffe and Putin on the visit's agenda.

Ratcliffe was in Moscow on Tuesday, August 25. The trip was not publicly announced in advance, and the White House and the CIA did not provide its agenda. According to The Washington Post, the American military transport aircraft C-17A Globemaster III arrived in the Russian capital after 9:00 and left approximately eight and a half hours later.

Who exactly represented the Russian side in contacts with the CIA director and what issues were discussed remains unknown. Representatives of the CIA, the Pentagon and the US Air Force declined to comment on the trip, and the White House also did not explain it publicly.

Earlier, Kurs Ukrainy reported about Ratcliffe's arrival in Moscow. This is the first known visit of a sitting CIA director to Russia since November 2021. Then Moscow was visited by William Burns, who conveyed Washington's warnings to the Russian leadership amid Russia's preparations for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The current visit took place against the backdrop of Russia's war against Ukraine and tense relations between Moscow and Washington. At the same time, neither the American nor the Russian side stated that Ratcliffe's talks directly concerned the war in Ukraine.

Source: The Washington Post