CIA Director John Ratcliffe is in Moscow for meetings, according to sources familiar with the situation, marking his first known trip to Russia as head of the agency. The visit came to light after a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport plane was spotted at a Moscow airport, accompanied by a U.S. diplomatic motorcade.
Neither the U.S. nor Russian governments has publicly confirmed the identity of the American official or the purpose of the visit. The CIA declined to comment, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no information about the aircraft.
The mystery deepened with tracking data from FlightRadar24 showing the C-17A approaching Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow shortly after 10 a.m. local time Tuesday, having taken off from Riga, Latvia, two hours earlier. The plane had departed from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday afternoon.
Ratcliffe has maintained contact with Russian intelligence counterparts, and the CIA has played a central role in recent U.S.-Russia detainee exchanges. In April 2025, the release of U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina was negotiated personally by Ratcliffe. The agency was also involved in the 2024 prisoner exchange that brought home Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan.
The visit comes as U.S.-mediated peace talks with Ukraine remain mostly stalled, with both sides still far apart on core issues. Ratcliffe’s predecessor, William Burns, traveled to Moscow in November 2021, meeting with senior Russian officials and directly warning President Vladimir Putin against invading Ukraine.
