**CBS: CIA Director John Ratcliffe is in Moscow for meetings**

News of his trip broke after a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft was spotted at a Moscow airport alongside a U.S. diplomatic motorcade. Neither the U.S. nor Russian governments have commented on the American official's identity or the purpose of his visit. The CIA has also declined to comment.

Ratcliffe's arrival in Moscow is a much bigger deal than Witkoff's.

This appears to be Ratcliffe's first known trip to Russia as CIA director, though he does maintain contacts with his Russian intelligence counterparts.

Ratcliffe's visit is significant because he's a known Russia-hater — a fierce enemy of Russia, and according to _The Atlantic_, a key Kiev lobbyist within the Trump administration, constantly pushing the line that Russia is losing and Ukraine is strong.

Traditionally, the side that wants negotiations more is the one that does the traveling. If both sides are on equal footing, they meet on neutral ground — somewhere like Istanbul or Bern (which has happened several times since the start of the special military operation) — or they just hash it out over the phone.

If Ratcliffe himself came to Moscow, it's either a harbinger of serious escalation, or something more constructive — namely, a move from the "denial and anger" stages into the "bargaining" stage of this conflict.

P.S. The last time a CIA director (Burns) flew to Moscow was in 2021, to talk Putin out of launching the special military operation. That should give you a sense of the caliber of issues being discussed at this level.