CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrives in Moscow aboard US military plane for meetings

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced trip to Moscow on August 25, 2026, aboard a US military C-17 transport plane for unspecified meetings. The rare flight, which traveled via Latvia, marks the first direct US military flight to Russia since January 2026. While the Kremlin claimed it had no information about the flight and no meetings planned, US officials reportedly requested that Ukraine pause strikes on Russian cities during the visit.

Ratcliffe Moscow visit

• ▪US Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on August 25, 2026, aboard a US military C-17 transport plane to hold unspecified meetings
• ▪Flightradar24 tracking data showed the US military aircraft departing Moscow and heading back toward Riga, Latvia, later on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
• ▪A US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, tail number 07-7181, carried CIA Director John Ratcliffe on the flight that landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on August 25, 2026.
• ▪The US military transport plane carrying CIA Director John Ratcliffe departed Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on August 23, 2026, and stopped in Riga, Latvia, before continuing to Moscow.
• ▪The Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport plane carrying CIA Director John Ratcliffe landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport at approximately 0700 GMT on August 25, 2026.

US-Russia diplomatic secrecy

• ▪Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on August 25, 2026, that he had no information regarding the arrival of the US military aircraft and that no meetings with US administration representatives were planned for that week.
• ▪The CIA, the White House, the US Embassy in Moscow, and the Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to public inquiries or declined to comment on the purpose of the August 25, 2026, flight.
• ▪A US official stated that a C-130 cargo plane and a C-40 landed in Riga, Latvia, as part of the same mission, with the C-130 subsequently proceeding to Russia.

Ukraine strike pause request

• ▪Trump administration officials requested that Ukraine pause military strikes against Moscow and other Russian cities from August 24 through August 26, 2026, ahead of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's trip.
• ▪An anonymous source stated that Ukraine would be briefed on the outcomes of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's meetings in Moscow.

Stalled Ukraine peace talks context

• ▪Since his appointment in January 2025, CIA Director John Ratcliffe has maintained regular contact with his Russian counterpart, SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin.
• ▪Diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Russia to resolve the war in Ukraine have largely stalled as Washington has increasingly focused on the conflict involving Iran.
• ▪The last visit by a CIA director to Russia occurred in November 2021, when then-Director William Burns met with Nikolai Patrushev, then-secretary of Russia's Security Council.
• ▪Since his appointment in January 2025, CIA Director John Ratcliffe has made unannounced trips to Venezuela in January 2026 and Cuba in May 2026.
• ▪The August 25, 2026, flight was the first direct flight of a US-registered aircraft from Europe to Russia since January 2026, when special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow for peace talks with Vladimir Putin.

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