CIA chief in Moscow for unannounced talks, US media reports

The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has travelled to Moscow for unannounced talks, the BBC's US news partner CBS has reported.

John Ratcliffe reportedly arrived in the Russian capital earlier on Tuesday. Neither Washington or Moscow have confirmed the nature of the visit or who he was due to meet.

In-person talks between high-level American and Russian officials are rare.

Flight tracking data confirmed a large US military aircraft travelled to Russia from the US via Latvia on Tuesday. It departed later on Tuesday.

BBC News has contacted the CIA, the White House and Pentagon for comment.

Footage posted on social media showed the C-17 transport plane approaching Moscow's Vnukovo international airport.

It departed Riga airport at 05:50 GMT and appeared to have landed in the Russian capital at around 07:04 GMT, according to data from FlightRadar24. It returned to Riga shortly before 17:00 GMT.

Footage on social media also purported to show a diplomatic motorcade travelling through Moscow.

The trip is thought to be Ratcliffe's first trip to Russia as CIA director, although he has maintained contact with his intelligence counterparts in Moscow.

John Foreman, who served as a British military attaché to Moscow between 2019 and 2022, told Radio 4's PM programme that the visit could be focused on "escalation management" given speculation recent drone activity in Germany could be linked to Russia .

He said: "The Americans don't normally send such a high ranking official to Moscow unannounced at short notice unless something is up."

Foreman said the trip could also concern the release of US detainees currently being held in Russia.

Ratcliffe played a role in negotiations for the release of Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina's, who was jailed in Russia for over a year after being accused of providing support to Ukraine.

The CIA was also involved in a 2024 prisoner swap deal with Russia that saw the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as well as former US marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

The US has had strained relations with Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, Russia has been isolated on the world stage and faced international economic sanctions.

Ratcliffe appears to be one of the highest-ranking US officials to visit the country during President Donald Trump's second term.

Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska last year but the meeting did not lead to a breakthrough. Subsequent US-led peace talks between Russia and Ukraine appear to have stalled.

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