The visit of CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow on August 25 was connected with contacts between the special services of the Russian Federation and the US. This version was voiced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a comment to The Washington Post.
As the publication notes, American officials did not announce Ratcliffe’s trip, but publicly available flight-tracking data captured the movement of a US government transport plane from Joint Base Andrews on the outskirts of Washington to the capital of Russia. The plane departed Moscow approximately eight and a half hours later, according to Flightradar24 tracking data.
According to WP data, spokespeople for the CIA, the Pentagon, and the US Air Force declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. "The Kremlin remained silent about the visit. When asked about the purpose of Ratcliffe’s visit, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Post that it was ‘contacts between security services’ and declined to provide any further details," according to the WP report.
Earlier on Tuesday, he stated that the Kremlin had no information about an American military plane that arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport. According to him, the Russian side had no plans to meet with representatives of the US administration this week.
CBS News was the first to report Ratcliffe’s trip. News of his trip appeared after a US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft, as well as a motorcade of American diplomats, were spotted in the Russian capital.
According to The Wall Street Journal, CIA Director John Ratcliffe came to Moscow because the American side had gathered intelligence regarding early Russian preparations for a possible military mobilization. According to sources, Washington asked Kyiv to refrain from attacking Moscow and St. Petersburg for a time amid the CIA chief’s visit.
The last known visit of a CIA director to Moscow took place in November 2021, when William J. Burns, who headed the agency during President Joe Biden’s term, warned Putin and his top aides not to attack Ukraine and clearly explained what the consequences would be. Moscow launched its full-scale invasion within weeks.
