What we should make of CIA boss's secret trip to Moscow
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a secret, unannounced trip to Moscow to meet with Russian intelligence officials. While the official purpose remains undisclosed, reports suggest the visit was a warning against Russian escalation toward NATO members.
Why it matters
The high-level, clandestine meeting highlights the extreme geopolitical tension between the US and Russia regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and potential threats to Baltic states.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Ratcliffe was taken to Moscow in a US military plane
President Donald Trump said John Ratcliffe's trip to Russia was a "semi-routine" visit but there is nothing routine about the CIA chief making a secret, 10,000-mile return dash to Moscow.
Ratcliffe met Russian intelligence officials on Tuesday - notably his opposite number in Russia's overseas spy agency, Sergei Naryshkin - after arriving unannounced on a US military plane, the Kremlin confirmed.
It's been nearly five years since his predecessor William Burns made this trip and that was at a similarly tense time, just as Russia was drawing up plans to invade Ukraine. So, this is probably serious.
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