US President Donald Trump has described CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow as “semi-routine,” while indicating that the intelligence chief’s talks may have focused on efforts to end Russia’s 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 in an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.
- Advertisement -
Mr Ratcliffe is among the most senior US officials to travel to Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
His visit took place as Russia intensified its summer offensive, driving up the civilian death toll in Ukraine and underscoring the lack of progress in US-brokered peace negotiations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin had received a briefing on the discussions, but declined to confirm whether the war in Ukraine had been addressed.
“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 previous CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns, who travelled there in November 2021 and warned Russia against sending troops into Ukraine. Within weeks, the Kremlin began the military operation that developed into Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
The CIA has also played a role in prisoner exchanges involving Russia, including a major swap carried out in mid-2024.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the war, while the Kremlin has maintained demands to seize the remainder of eastern Ukraine and retain control of Crimea.
Mr Trump rejected suggestions that Mr Ratcliffe’s discussions might have covered other matters, including Russia’s efforts to test NATO’s resolve or the US campaign to intensify 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 told Glenn Beck.
“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 said.
Ukraine awards Elon Musk state honour
President Volodymyr Zelensky has granted one of Ukraine’s highest state distinctions to SpaceX owner Elon Musk, as Kyiv works to broaden its use of the company’s Starlink terminals for battlefield communications.
According to a presidential decree published on the presidential website today, Mr Musk received the Order of Freedom.
The decree cited Mr Musk’s “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’s satellite internet service over Ukraine shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Since then, the system has become essential to Ukrainian military communications and has helped support drone operations.
Earlier this year, Mr Musk agreed to disable thousands of Russian “grey-market” Starlink terminals operating in Ukraine. The move, requested by former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov before his dismissal in July, disrupted Russian forces.
Ukraine has since asked to use Starlink over Russian territory as it seeks to strike targets such as the launchers used to fire ballistic missiles at Ukrainian cities.
Mr Zelensky said he had initially been told that Mr Musk viewed the proposal as a “major escalation” of the war, but added that Ukraine had “started to receive a different, more encouraging feedback.”
Access to Starlink over Russian territory could weaken capabilities Moscow is using to prolong the conflict, Mr Zelensky said.
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 principal Black Sea export port of Novorossiysk, could take as long as four months after a Ukrainian attack, the company said today.
A series of attacks in recent months has brought nearly all grain shipments through ports on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to a halt. Those facilities previously handled 70% of Russia’s grain exports.
Ukraine launched a large drone assault on Novorossiysk on 12 August, disabling all three grain terminals at the port.
The Demetra-owned export terminal sustained less serious damage than NKHP, while the third facility, operated by Delo Group, escaped damage but suspended operations.
United Grain Company, the Russian state-owned firm that owns NKHP, confirmed after the attack that the terminal had been damaged.
Reuters sources said the loading gallery was among the structures hit. A financial report published today said the final repair schedule had not yet been established.
NKHP can handle 7.1 million tonnes a year and is one of Novorossiysk’s three largest terminals. Together, the facilities have annual capacity of more than 18 million tonness, while Russia’s seaborne grain exports reached 47.8 million tonnes last season.
With drone attacks disrupting Black Sea shipments, the Russian government is weighing the abolition of its grain export duty and examining ways to reroute cargo through alternative ports, including routes in the Baltic, Caspian and Far East.
