John Ratcliffe, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has flown to Moscow for meetings, CBS News reported on Tuesday (local time), citing sources familiar with the matter.
The news first came to light when an aircraft belonging to the US Air Force - a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III was spotted at an airport in the Russian capital, Moscow, the publication reported. Also, a US diplomatic motorcade was seen at the Moscow airport, where the US aircraft landed.
However, neither the US nor the Russian government has released any official communication regarding who the US official was at the airport.
This will be the first visit to Russia by a US spy chief since William Burns, Ratcliffe's predecessor, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin back in 2021. Three months after that meeting, Putin launched the war against Ukraine.
Reuters reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed nor denied the CIA chief's arrival, but said Putin has no plans to meet Ratcliffe.
A source told Reuters the US asked Ukraine to avoid air strikes around Moscow, St Petersburg, and some other territories in the northern parts of the country from Monday through Wednesday, as a senior US official's aircraft would be flying to Moscow.
Iran is likely to feature in Ratcliffe's agenda, with Washington warning countries on Monday to cut trade relations with Tehran or face secondary sanctions. The US currently has no ambassador in Russia, while Moscow maintains close military, economic and diplomatic relations with Iran.
Iran has supplied Russia with drones for the Ukraine war, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Moscow of sending its own versions of these drones back to Tehran, reported Reuters.
In April, a Ukrainian intelligence assessment revealed that Russia had aided Iran with satellite imagery, which was used to target US facilities in the ongoing war between the two sides. Moscow has, however, denied these claims and said it was ready to resolve the conflict between the US and Iran.
The CIA chief's visit to Russia comes at a time when US intelligence is indicating that Russia is now looking to aggravate its stance against NATO countries, which includes hybrid operations as well as short, deniable military actions. Moscow is planning these measures to test the alliance's resolve as well as that of the US government.
Currently, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are stalled with no resolution in sight.
