CIA director holds rare Moscow talks amid strained US-Russia ties

MOSCOW, VNUKOVO AIRPORT, ST. PETERSBURG, NORTHERN RUSSIA, UKRAINE, WASHINGTON, ALASKA, MIDDLE EAST, IRAN, ISRAEL, 27 AUGUST 2026 —

CIA Director John Ratcliffe held talks in Moscow with Russian intelligence counterparts, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, a rare high-level meeting at a time of severe strain over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russian state agencies said a US military plane landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Tuesday and left the same day. President Donald Trump called the visit “sort of semi-routine” on conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck’s radio show, adding, “I hate to disappoint people.”

A senior Ukrainian official told Reuters that Washington had told Kyiv a delegation was heading to Moscow and asked Ukraine to suspend strikes on the Russian capital, St. Petersburg and northern regions until it departed. Strikes elsewhere in Russia continued, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Peskov described intelligence contacts as “a positive phenomenon” but stressed US-Russia relations remain in “a profound crisis.” He said it was “too early to say” what effect the visit would have on the wider relationship.

Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russia’s security services, told Reuters such visits are “not an annual event.” Official US-Russia channels have operated since the 1980s to handle crises involving personnel or assets, he said. In 2021, CIA Director William Burns met Nikolai Patrushev, Putin’s security council head, in Moscow months before Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine.

Burns later met the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency in Turkey in November 2022 to warn against a nuclear strike in Ukraine.

Soldatov said Ratcliffe’s visit likely addressed pressing American national-security interests, possibly involving the protection of US personnel or facilities in the Middle East that Iran has targeted. He added that such meetings typically occur only when core security interests are at stake.

Relations between Washington and Moscow hit Cold War lows after Russia’s 2022 invasion but showed signs of thaw after Trump returned to office and pledged to end the war. Trump has held multiple calls with Putin and hosted him in Alaska a year ago.

Trump reiterated his desire to see the war end in his radio appearance on Wednesday. Negotiations have stalled as the US focuses on its conflict with Iran and both sides escalate long-range strikes. Putin has rejected Kyiv’s push for an immediate ceasefire, saying Russia seeks a comprehensive settlement.

Russia has offered to mediate in the US-Israel war with Iran, Moscow’s key Middle East ally. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Tehran supplied Shahed drones and later licensed local production. In January 2025, Moscow and Tehran signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty. Russia has also maintained relations with Israel, though analysts describe its ties with Iran as complex.

In March, Reuters reported that Russia provided Iran with intelligence that could help Tehran strike US assets in the region, according to two US officials. The officials cautioned that US intelligence had not found evidence Russia was directing Iran’s actions. When asked, Peskov said no request for military assistance had come from Tehran and declined to comment further.