Russian foreign intelligence head confirms meeting with CIA director

Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, has confirmed that he met and held talks with CIA Director John Ratcliffe during Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow on 25 August.

"The way intelligence services operate, meetings between their heads and one-on-one meetings, including online, are all part of our work. For example, I meet practically every week with the head of one intelligence service or another, an intelligence organisation from various continents around the world, so these meetings are a routine working format," Naryshkin said in a comment to TASS, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet.

Naryshkin said that during his meeting with Ratcliffe, they had discussed "a number of issues within the remit of the intelligence services".

Naryshkin did not provide any details, saying that the work of intelligence services is "a rather sensitive and special matter".

Politico reported that Ratcliffe had warned Russian officials during his visit to Moscow not to escalate tensions with US NATO allies, particularly Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

On the morning of 26 August, US President Donald Trump rejected suggestions that Ratcliffe had made the trip to persuade Putin not to test NATO's resolve or attack the United Kingdom, which had pledged to step up its support for Ukraine that week. Trump described the visit as "semi-routine" but acknowledged that its purpose was to help end the war.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, said that the CIA director's visit was related to contact between the Russian and US intelligence services.