CIA Director John Ratcliffe Meets with Russian Intelligence Officials in Moscow

<p>CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian intelligence officials, as reported by the Kremlin on Wednesday. This visit followed the arrival of a U.S. military transport plane at Vnukovo airport on Tuesday.</p><p>President Donald Trump commented on Ratcliffe's visit during an appearance on "The Glenn Beck Program," stating, "He’s there on, you know, very sort of semi-routine." Trump expressed a desire to see the conflict in Ukraine come to an end, adding, "Now something may come out of it. We're working very hard to get that war ended and frankly they both want to see it ended at this point." </p><p>Fox News Digital has sought further comments from the White House, the CIA, and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.</p><p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Wednesday, according to Reuters, "All I can tell you is that there have been contacts via the security services. I can tell you that there have been no meetings with the Russian president." The Kremlin indicated that Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials.</p><p>Peskov also mentioned that President Putin is kept informed of all developments without delay. The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, prior to the onset of Russia's war against Ukraine.</p><p>A senior Ukrainian official informed The Associated Press that Washington had notified Kyiv about the delegation's travel to Moscow and requested a suspension of strikes until their departure. This request was said to apply specifically to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and some northern regions, while strikes in other areas of Russia continued, as reported by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.</p><p>Video footage showed a U.S. military transport plane landing at Vnukovo airport on Tuesday, despite the Kremlin's initial claims of having no information about the flight.</p><p>Data from Flightradar24 indicated that the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III departed from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland early Sunday afternoon, heading to Riga, Latvia, before traveling to Moscow on Tuesday morning.</p><p>The last instance of a U.S.-registered jet making a direct flight to Russia from Europe occurred in January, when special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, visited Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.</p><p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p>