WASHINGTON — Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe flew to Russia to hold unspecified talks in Moscow, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The person declined to say whom was Ratcliffe meeting with or what was the focus of the talks. The CIA declined to comment.
It’s Ratcliffe’s first known trip to Moscow as CIA director. He made headlines with a visit to Venezuela in January to meet with interim President Delcy Rodríguez about two weeks after the U.S. military seized President Nicolas Maduro in a raid in Caracas.
He also traveled to Cuba in May to meet with government leaders. He was the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit the island, which is under severe economic pressure after the U.S. tightened sanctions.
News of Ratcliffe’s travel came as mystery swirled around a U.S. military transport aircraft that landed in Moscow, according to tracking data.
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/mystery-us-military-plane-lands-moscow-rcna594262
The aircraft had arrived in Riga on Aug. 23 from Camp Springs airbase near Washington, D.C., data from Flightradar24 showed.
The last direct flight of a U.S. registered jet to Russia from Europe took place in January, carrying special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner for peace talks with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.
Hours after the landing, footage circulated on social media showing a convoy of vehicles carrying US diplomatic plates moving through Moscow, further fuelling speculation that the C-17 could be connected to an American delegation.
The footage has not been independently verified, however, and there is no confirmation that the vehicles were linked to the aircraft. The Kremlin, meanwhile, publicly denied having information about the flight.
https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/current/us-air-force-c-17-moscow-cia-john-ratcliffe-ukraine/
h/t Doctor Congo