The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe, has travelled to Moscow for unannounced talks, according to reporting by the BBC's US partner CBS. Neither Washington nor Moscow has confirmed who he met or what the visit concerned, but face-to-face meetings between senior American and Russian officials remain rare, making the trip notable amid strained relations since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Flight tracking data showed a US military C-17 transport plane flying to Moscow via Latvia on Tuesday, departing Riga at 05:50 GMT and landing at Vnukovo airport around 07:04 GMT. This appears to be Ratcliffe's first visit to Russia as CIA director; he previously helped negotiate prisoner releases, including that of Russian-American Ksenia Karelina and, in 2024, journalist Evan Gershkovich, marine Paul Whelan and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. He is thought to be among the most senior US officials to visit Russia during Donald Trump's second term, which has so far included an inconclusive Trump-Putin summit in Alaska and stalled peace talks over Ukraine.