US-Iran Tensions Put Moscow-Tehran Ties Under Spotlight As CIA Chief John Ratcliffe Visits Russia

(MENAFN- Live Mint) 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 a 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

However, neither the US nor the Russian government has released any official communication regarding who the US official was at the airport.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine war: 16 killed, over 130 injured in drone attack in Kryvyi Rig

This will be the first time the spy chief of the US is visiting Russia since William Burns, Ratcliffe's predecessor, held talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin back in 2021. It was only three months from that meeting that Putin began the Russia-Ukraine war.

Reuters reached out to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who neither confirmed nor denied the report of the CIA chief's arrival, but did say that Putin has no plans of meeting Ratcliffe.

A source told Reuters that the US had asked Ukraine to not launch air strikes around Moscow, St Petersburg, and some other territories in the northern part of the country on Monday through Wednesday since an aircraft carrying a senior US official would be flying to Moscow.

Chances are that Iran might be a focus of Ratcliffe's activities in Russia, since on Monday the US government had warned countries to sever their trade relationships with Iran or face secondary sanctions. The US has no ambassador in Russia, which in turn maintains a close partnership with Iran (military, economic, as well as diplomatic).

Iran supplied Russia with drones for the Ukraine war, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia for supplying its own versions of these drones to Tehran.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine war escalates: 822 Ukrainian drones target Moscow and Rostov

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 at 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 in order to test the alliance's resolve as well as the US government.

Currently, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are stalled with no resolution in sight.

With agency inputs

MENAFN25082026007365015876ID1111581622