US CIA chief travels to Moscow for unannounced talks

The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, has travelled to Moscow for unannounced talks, the BBC writes, referring to its US news partner CBS.

Flight tracking data confirmed a large US military aircraft travelled to Russia from the US via Latvia on Tuesday. It departed later on Tuesday.

Responding to a question from The Washington Post about the visit, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the CIA director had travelled to Moscow for “contacts between the intelligence services.”

Peskov provided no further details about the visit. Speaking to TASS, he clarified that no meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ratcliffe had been planned.