CIA chief’s secret trip to Moscow shows Putin’s threat to Nato is deadly serious

European countries have every reason to be concerned over John Ratcliffe's visit to Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed three undisclosed decrees on Aug. 25, coinciding with CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise Moscow visit and a US request for Ukraine to pause strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg. The contents of the decrees remain unknown.

Before his trip, the US requested Ukraine to temporarily stop drone and missile attacks on Moscow and other cities in northern Russia, according to the report.

US tells Ukraine to halt air strikes on Russian capital as John Ratcliffe flies in on military plane

A US Air Force transport jet made a highly unusual landing in Moscow on Tuesday, sparking a frenzy of theories about its mysterious mission.

Data from Flightradar24 earlier showed a US military C-17 travelling from the United States to Latvia and then on to Moscow.