CIA Director Ratcliffe's Moscow Visit Tests Intelligence Channel as Russia-Ukraine Diplomacy Stalls

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced Moscow visit — his first in the role — after the Trump-Putin Alaska summit produced no breakthrough and US-led Russia-Ukraine peace talks stalled. The Kremlin publicly denied any planned meeting. The CIA channel has delivered prisoner swaps before; whether it can carry war-termination diplomacy remains an open question.