A rare trip by a sitting CIA director to Moscow is being played down by US President Donald Trump, who described John Ratcliffe’s visit as “semi-routine” even as he suggested the talks were linked to efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“He’s there, very sort of semi-routine. I hate to disappoint people. We would like to see the war with Ukraine end,” Mr Trump said during an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.
Mr Ratcliffe is among the most senior US officials to set foot in Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The visit comes as Russia’s summer offensive has intensified, with strikes pushing up the civilian death toll, while peace talks brokered by the United States have faltered.
In Moscow, the Kremlin confirmed the CIA chief had “contacts” with Russia’s special services during the trip but said he did not meet President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin was briefed on the discussions, but he declined to say whether the war in Ukraine featured in the exchanges.
“Contacts through the intelligence services are a positive development in and of themselves. It is too early to say how this will affect the process of resolving the crisis in our relations,” Mr Peskov said.
The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, when he warned Russian officials against deploying troops into Ukraine. Weeks later, the Kremlin launched an assault that has since become Europe’s most severe conflict since World War II.
The CIA has also played a role in negotiating prisoner swaps with Russia, including a major exchange in mid-2024.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands, and the Kremlin has not softened demands that include taking the remainder of eastern Ukraine and holding on to Crimea.
Mr Trump, in his comments to Mr Beck, rejected the idea that Mr Ratcliffe was in Moscow to address other flashpoints, such as Russia probing NATO’s resolve or Washington’s push to increase economic pressure on Iran.
“He is not in there for any of the things that you said, now something may come out, you know, out of it,” Mr Trump said.
“We’re working very hard to get that war ended, and frankly, they both want to see it ended at this point,” the US president added.
Ukraine awards Elon Musk state honour
President Volodymyr Zelensky has bestowed one of Ukraine’s highest state honours on SpaceX owner Elon Musk, a move that comes as Kyiv presses to expand access to Starlink terminals that underpin frontline communications for Ukrainian forces.
In a presidential decree published on the presidential website today, Mr Musk received the Order of Freedom.
The decree credited Mr Musk “for outstanding personal contributions to protecting human life and freedom, and for developing relations between the peoples of Ukraine and the United States of America”.
Ukraine is seeking to expand use of Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals
Mr Musk activated Starlink satellite internet over Ukraine soon after Russia’s 2022 invasion. The system has since become central to battlefield connectivity and is also used to help operate drones.
This year, Mr Musk agreed — at the request of former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, before he was dismissed in July — to disable thousands of Russian “grey-market” Starlinks operating in Ukraine, creating difficulties for Russian forces.
Ukraine has since asked to extend Starlink coverage over Russian territory as it looks to strike targets such as ballistic missile launchers that have inflicted heavy damage on Ukrainian cities.
Mr Zelensky has said he was told Mr Musk opposed that expansion as a “major escalation” of the conflict, but that Ukraine had “started to receive a different, more encouraging feedback.”
Mr Zelensky said enabling Starlink over Russian territory could undercut capabilities Russia is using to prolong the war.
Satellite imagery showing damage to the Novorossiysk port after the attacks on 12 August
Russian grain terminal repairs may take four months
Repairs at NKHP — one of three grain terminals at Russia’s main Black Sea export hub of Novorossiysk — could take as long as four months after a Ukrainian attack, the company said today.
A wave of attacks in recent months has brought almost all grain shipments through ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to a standstill, routes that previously accounted for 70% of Russia’s grain exports.
Ukraine struck Novorossiysk in a large drone attack on 12 August, knocking all three grain terminals out of operation.
Demetra’s export terminal sustained less serious damage than NKHP, while the third terminal, owned by Delo Group, was not damaged, though operations there were also suspended.
After the strike, Russian state-owned United Grain Company, which owns NKHP, confirmed the facility had been damaged.
Reuters sources said the loading gallery was among the areas hit. A final schedule for repairs has not yet been set, according to a financial report published today.
NKHP, which can handle 7.1 million tonnes a year, is one of Novorossiysk’s three largest terminals. Together, the three have combined annual capacity of more than 18 million tonness, while total seaborne exports last season were 47.8 million tonnes.
As drone attacks disrupt exports in the Black Sea, the Russian government is weighing the removal of its grain export duty and discussing how to reroute shipments through other ports, including Baltic, Caspian, and Far Eastern corridors.
