Ukraine received information from the US regarding several meetings CIA Director John Ratcliffe held with Russian intelligence officials, following his unannounced trip to Moscow on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday, Aug. 28, that Kyiv had discussed the developments with US officials before and after the Moscow meetings. He also thanked the American side for sharing information and for what he called the necessary tone in its diplomatic contacts with Russia.
“We value the coordination of steps and the fact that America is advancing a thoroughly realistic vision of what needs to be done and what must be done,” Zelensky said.
“Russia must end its war; all conditions must be created to make that happen,” he continued.
Ratcliffe’s secretive visit
CBS News reported the visit on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter after a US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport plane landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. The plane flew in from Riga, Latvia, raising questions about the flight’s unusual route.
The US aircraft – identified as RCH4555 – departed Riga at around 8:50 a.m. before landing at Vnukovo Airport at roughly 10:04 a.m.
Flight-tracking data indicated that the aircraft first arrived in Riga on Sunday, Aug. 23, after departing from Camp Springs, Maryland, home to Andrews Air Force Base.
Neither Moscow nor Washington commented on the purpose of the visit, or publicly identified the US official that arrived in Russia at the time.
“We have no information about this,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the aircraft, adding that Russia was not planning meetings with the US administration.
Reports of possible attack on NATO
Several media outlets, including Axios and Suspilne, reported that Washington had informed Kyiv, ahead of the reported visit, that a high-level US delegation was traveling to Moscow and had asked Ukraine to refrain from strikes on both Moscow and St. Petersburg.
On Wednesday, Aug. 26, The Wall Street Journal and Politico reported that Ratcliffe made the visit to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against attacking a NATO member.
Around the same time, US President Donald Trump said that “something may come out of” the visit, adding that his administration was working “very hard to end the war in Ukraine,” despite initially downplaying Ratcliffe’s visit as routine.
Russia weighs escalation
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Russia is considering intensifying ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, after concluding that peace negotiations have “reached a dead end.”
According to the sources, all attempts at negotiations have effectively collapsed, leaving Ukraine and Russia back at square one.
Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources close to the Kremlin, said Moscow increasingly sees Ukrainian strikes as attacks by NATO, because alliance members supply Kyiv with weapons and intelligence.
On Thursday, Aug. 27, Trump dismissed the possibility of Russia attacking NATO while rejecting reports that Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow to warn the Kremlin against such a move.
“There was no message and there was nothing unusual,” he continued. “I am not concerned… at all. There is no problem.”
Russia confirms visit
According to Axios, Sergey Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), confirmed on Thursday that he met Ratcliffe during his trip to Moscow.
He described their discussions as a regular part of intelligence work and said there was “nothing out of the ordinary.”
So far, Moscow continues to dismiss the prospect of a ceasefire and has yet to join the negotiating table, which Ukraine is seeking to encourage by targeting Russia’s critical oil and energy infrastructure, alongside the logistics network.
According to The New York Times on Thursday, Ratcliffe warned Russian intelligence officials that Moscow’s military and economic position would deteriorate further if the Kremlin refused to pursue serious peace negotiations.
Ratcliffe delivered the warning directly to Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), according to current and former US officials cited by NYT.