CIA Director John Ratcliffe Makes Secret Moscow Visit

President Donald Trump just sent one of his most trusted national-security hands into Moscow.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived in the Russian capital Tuesday aboard a U.S. military C-17 for undisclosed meetings with Russian officials — a rare, high-level trip whose purpose Washington and Moscow are keeping tightly under wraps.

The visit was first revealed after flight trackers spotted the American transport plane landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport following a stop in Latvia. A U.S. diplomatic motorcade was later seen in the city.

CBS News and Axios subsequently identified Ratcliffe as the passenger.

Neither the CIA nor the Kremlin has said whom he is meeting or what is on the table.

That secrecy is what makes the trip notable.

Trump’s public diplomacy with Moscow has largely run through special envoy Steve Witkoff, particularly on the stalled effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ratcliffe operates in a different lane.

He has been deeply involved in the administration’s Iran strategy and has maintained contact with Russian intelligence officials, including a March call with Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

The CIA has also played a behind-the-scenes role in recent U.S.-Russia prisoner exchanges.

CBS described Tuesday’s visit as Ratcliffe’s first known trip to Russia since taking over the agency.

Whatever brought Trump’s spy chief to Moscow, the administration isn’t advertising it.

And for now, neither are the Russians.

This story is developing…

FIRST ON CBS: CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow, Russia, on a secret trip for meetings, sources say. https://t.co/KeGoC71E7e

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 25, 2026