Putin did not meet CIA director during Russia visit, Kremlin says
on Google
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not meet with CIA Director John Ratcliffe during Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia's state-owned TASS news agency on Aug. 26.
"No meetings with Putin were planned," Peskov said.
Ratcliffe's visit marked his first known official trip to Russia. The CIA director has maintained contact with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), who has previously signaled a willingness to meet Ratcliffe.
Peskov also told the Washington Post that Ratcliffe's visit involved "contacts between security services" but declined to provide further details.
A U.S. official earlier confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Ratcliffe was scheduled to meet senior Russian officials, although it remains unclear what was discussed.
The Ukrainian side was informed that a U.S. delegation would travel to Russia, but was not initially told that Ratcliffe would be part of it, a source familiar with the matter said.
Ukrainian officials are expected to receive a briefing after the visit, although it is unclear whether Ratcliffe will travel to Kyiv in person, the source said.
The U.S. asked Ukraine not to strike Moscow or St. Petersburg while Ratcliffe was visiting Russia, another person familiar with the situation told the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 25.
The visit comes as Washington and Moscow maintain increasingly active bilateral contacts under U.S. President Donald Trump, who took office last January and pledged to negotiate an end to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Despite repeated visits to Moscow by Trump's peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, peace talks have effectively stalled, with Russia and Ukraine remaining far apart over territorial issues.
Witkoff and Kushner were expected to make their first visits to Ukraine this week, but the trip was postponed.
A source denied earlier reports that intensified Russian attacks had prompted the delay, saying Trump wanted to keep the envoys close because of the unresolved standoff with Iran.
Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, spoke with Witkoff by phone on Aug. 23. Witkoff promised to travel to Ukraine eventually, according to the source.
Despite the deadlock in peace talks, Washington and Moscow have kept diplomatic channels open. Those contacts helped broker the Aug. 11 release of former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, who had been imprisoned in Russia for four years.
