John Ratcliffe’s Moscow Visit Remains Shrouded in Uncertainty, Kremlin Says No Meeting With Putin Took Place

CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow remains shrouded in uncertainty after he arrived this morning aboard a United States Air Force transport plane.

It is still unknown which officials Ratcliffe met with or what topics were discussed. The Kremlin has said only that the CIA director did not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“No meetings with Putin were scheduled,” Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s spokesperson, told the state news agency TASS. The trip marks Ratcliffe’s first known official visit to Russia.

The CIA chief has maintained contact with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), who previously expressed his willingness to meet with him.

Peskov also told The Washington Post that the visit was related to “contacts between the security services,” without providing further details about the substance of the communications.

Earlier, a US official told the Kyiv Independent that Ratcliffe would hold talks with senior Russian officials. However, the specific topics discussed during these contacts have not been disclosed.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Ukraine had been informed that a US delegation would travel to Russia but had initially not been told that Ratcliffe would be part of it.

The same source said Ukrainian officials were expected to be briefed on the outcome of the visit. However, it remains unclear whether the CIA director will travel to Kyiv to relay the information himself.

Meanwhile, Axios reported that the United States had asked Ukraine not to carry out attacks on Moscow or St. Petersburg while Ratcliffe was in Russia.

The visit comes at a time when Washington and Moscow have intensified bilateral relations under President Donald Trump. He took office in January 2025 and pledged to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Although Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have visited Moscow several times, peace negotiations have remained stalled. Russia and Ukraine continue to have major disagreements, particularly over territorial issues.

Witkoff and Kushner were expected to make their first visits to Ukraine this week, but the trip was postponed. A source dismissed earlier reports that the delay was caused by an increase in Russian attacks, explaining that Trump wanted to keep the two envoys close because of the continuing standoff with Iran.

On August 23, Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s negotiating team, held a phone call with Witkoff. According to the source, Witkoff promised to visit Ukraine at a later date.

Although the peace process has stalled, Washington and Moscow have continued to keep diplomatic channels open. These communications contributed to the August 11 agreement to release former US Marine Robert Gilman, who had been imprisoned in Russia for four years.