CIA director John Ratcliffe’s short and secretive visit took place on August  25, when a US military cargo plane was spotted landing in Moscow.

Updated on: Sep 2, 2026, 22:28:05 IST

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise trip last week to Moscow, casting it as an effort to keep communication channels open with Russia.

“His visit there was largely routine, in that sense of just establishing and continue to build these intel-to-intel communication channels,” Rubio said in an interview on Fox News Radio with Brian Kilmeade broadcast Wednesday. “Those things can prove useful in a time of crisis or conflict,” he added. Track live updates on US Iran war

Ratcliffe’s short and secretive visit took place on Aug. 25, when a US military cargo plane was spotted landing in Moscow. The Kremlin has said Ratcliffe did not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With no official US statement about the purpose of the visit, however, there has been rampant speculation about what the CIA chief might have discussed with his Russian counterparts, including whether he delivered a warning to Moscow about its ties with Iran or sought to tell Putin that he is not receiving honest assessments from his advisers about Russia’s military and economic challenges.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the trip’s purpose was to warn the Kremlin not to attack NATO countries, citing unnamed people briefed on the visit. Ratcliffe’s visit came amid worries about Russia targeting countries that supply weapons and money to Ukraine.

President Donald Trump previously described the trip as “semi-routine” and suggested Ukraine was among the topics on the table, adding that “Washington would like to see the war in Ukraine end.” Trump also has said he did not think Putin would attack NATO territory.

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