CIA chief John Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials during his visit to Moscow, but did not meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said Wednesday. President Donald Trump described Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow as a "semi-routine" mission, while implying that the intelligence chief was in the Russian capital to discuss the Ukraine war.
US CIA Director John Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials during his visit to Moscow on Tuesday but did not meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had been briefed on the outcome of Ratcliffe's talks, but declined to provide further details.
Peskov said it was also too early to say whether such contacts between the two countries' intelligence agencies could help pull US-Russia relations out of what he described as a "deep crisis".
When asked about the trip, President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Ratcliffe was on a "semi-routine" mission in Moscow.
"He's there, very sort of semi-routine. I hate to disappoint people. We would like to see the war with Ukraine end," Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.
First CIA chief visit since full-scale Ukraine invasion
Ratcliffe is one of the highest-ranking US officials to visit Russia since its war with Ukraine started in 2022.
The trip would be the first known visit to the Russian capital by a US spy chief since Ratcliffe's predecessor, William Burns, held talks with Vladimir Putin in November 2021.
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About three months after that meeting, the Russian president launched Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The US has no ambassador to Russia, which maintains a close strategic partnership with Iran involving extensive military, economic and diplomatic ties.
Tehran supplied Moscow with drones for its war against Ukraine. In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of supplying its version of those drones to Iran.
A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reported by Reuters in April said that Russia has aided Iran with satellite imagery for use in targeting US facilities in the Middle East.
Moscow denies providing such assistance and has said it is ready to help resolve the US-Iran conflict.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
