CIA chief’s visit to Moscow related to resolving Ukraine war, Trump says

By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Wednesday, August 26, 2026

President Trump on Wednesday said CIA Director John Ratcliffe is visiting Russia as part of “routine” efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Mr. Trump explained the sudden trip to Moscow in an attempt to put to rest online speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be preparing to launch a new offensive in Europe.

Mr. Trump, speaking to radio host Glenn Beck, said the visit was not related to any sudden occurrence or intended to head off an attack.

“We would like to see the war with Ukraine end,” Mr. Trump said. “Something might come out of [the visit]. We’re working very hard to get that war ended, and frankly, they both want to see it ended at this point.”

Mr. Ratcliffe’s first known visit to Moscow stirred interest when people spotted a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport plane landing in the Russian city.

Kremlin officials confirmed that Mr. Ratcliffe met with intelligence counterparts, but not with Mr. Putin.

Mr. Trump on Wednesday repeated his belief that Mr. Putin would not have attacked neighboring Ukraine in February 2022 if he had been president at the time instead of Joseph R. Biden.

The president often says he thought ending the war in Ukraine is proving thornier than he once believed, and his administration recently approved licenses for Ukraine to make its own Raytheon-designed Patriot air-defense missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mr. Trump for the move but said his country needs immediate air defense capabilities while it works to manufacture the Patriot missiles.

Also Wednesday, Mr. Trump tried to put to rest another theory — that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is dead and Iranian officials are pretending he survived early attacks that killed his father, longtime Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“I don’t think he’s dead,” Mr. Trump said, though he added the ayatollah is severely wounded. “If he is, they are putting on a pretty good show because they talk about going back to talk to him all the time to get a final blessing on things.”