CIA Director John Ratcliffe Proposed Trilateral Summit in Moscow Trip

CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a trilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky during his covert trip to Moscow in an effort to find a resolution to the ongoing Ukraine conflict, Axios has reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Ratcliffe made an unannounced trip to Moscow on August 25. The following day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that contact between the two countries’ intelligence services had taken place, but said Putin had not met with the CIA chief. “Of course, President Putin is immediately briefed on everything,” Peskov said, calling the meeting “a positive phenomenon” while declining to give further details.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Sergei Naryshkin later confirmed that he had met with Ratcliffe in Moscow. Naryshkin said the two issues discussed were related to the intelligence services. Axios reported that Ratcliffe also met with Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov.

US officials briefed Zelensky on the Moscow talks and the plan for a trilateral summit. They also said Ratcliffe had discussed the possibility of restarting peace talks, the outlet reported.

Earlier last week, Trump described the visit as “semi-routine.” When asked by talk show host Glenn Beck whether Putin planned on “testing NATO resolve,” or whether Ratcliffe discussed US sanctions on Iran, Trump replied “none of the above.”

Ratcliffe’s visit was the first known trip to Moscow by a CIA director since William Burns traveled there in November 2021. The last known face-to-face meeting between the CIA and SVR chiefs was in Ankara in November 2022, when Burns met Naryshkin to discuss nuclear escalation risks and detained US citizens.

The last publicly disclosed contact between Ratcliffe and a senior Russian official was a March 2025 phone call with SVR chief Sergey Naryshkin. The two sides agreed to maintain dialogue to “promote international stability and security” and reduce tensions between Moscow and Washington, the SVR said.