CIA chief John Ratcliffe made unannounced Moscow trip for talks
What's new: The visit appeared to be the highest-level Trump administration trip to Russia since January and came as Ukraine diplomacy stalled.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow on Tuesday for previously undisclosed meetings with Russian officials, according to U.S. media reports, in a rare face-to-face contact between senior American and Russian officials. FlightRadar24 data showed a U.S. Air Force C-17 flew from Riga to Moscow's Vnukovo airport after originating near Washington at Joint Base Andrews. Neither the CIA nor other U.S. agencies publicly described the purpose of the trip, and reports did not identify which Russian officials Ratcliffe met. The visit came as U.S.-Russia channels over the war in Ukraine remained strained and peace efforts appeared to have stalled.