Igor Ronhaus examines why CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s secret trip to Moscow may signal either a dangerous escalation or Washington’s reluctant shift from denial to bargaining.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russian officials. The trip became public only after observers spotted a US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at a Moscow airport and a US diplomatic motorcade nearby. Flight data showed that the aircraft had left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, stopped in Riga and then continued to Moscow. Neither Washington nor Moscow disclosed whom Ratcliffe met or what was discussed. The CIA declined to comment, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin had no meeting with Ratcliffe on his schedule. This was Ratcliffe’s first known visit to Russia since becoming CIA director, although he has kept open direct contacts with Russian intelligence chiefs.
Ratcliffe’s arrival is far more important—and, from a Russian point of view, far more encouraging—than another visit by Steve Witkoff. Why is that?
