Washington, August 26 (TNA) US CIA Director John Ratcliffe returned to Washington, a day after he visited Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with Russian officials. The surprise visit, which came amid fragile peace negotiations, was the first known trip to the Russian capital by a US spy chief since Ratcliffe's predecessor, William Burns, who held talks with Vladimir Putin in November 2021.
This was also Ratcliffe's first trip to Moscow since he took office and the highest-level visit by a Trump administration official to Russia since January. It is unclear whom he met during his visit or what was covered in the talks. However, a Kremlin spokesman confirmed that President Vladimir Putin was not scheduled to meet the visiting dignitary.
Last week, the US asked Ukraine not to launch air strikes around Moscow, St. Petersburg, and some northern territories of Russia on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week because a plane carrying a senior US official would be flying to the Russian capital.