CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with Russian officials, according to infohub.kz.

The trip was revealed by CBS News and Axios, citing unnamed sources. Details of the talks, including the names of his interlocutors and the agenda, have not been disclosed.

The visit was brief: Ratcliffe spent about four hours in Moscow, arriving on a C-17 military transport aircraft via Latvia.

Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of U.S. National Intelligence, suggested that Ratcliffe may have delivered a direct warning to Russian leadership that Washington is aware of planned actions and urges them to refrain. Another possible topic, she said, was involving Moscow in resolving the conflict with Iran, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The CIA declined to comment, and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests from journalists.

This is the first known visit by a U.S. intelligence chief to Moscow since November 2021, when Ratcliffe's predecessor William Burns met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. About three months after that meeting, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ratcliffe leads the CIA under U.S. President Donald Trump. During Trump's first term, he served as Director of National Intelligence.

Last week, Washington asked Kyiv to refrain from strikes on Moscow, St. Petersburg, and some northern regions of Russia on August 24, 25, and 26. The reason cited was a planned arrival in the Russian capital of a plane carrying a high-ranking U.S. official.

Ratcliffe's visit comes amid increased U.S. pressure on Iran. On Monday, the U.S. warned other countries to sever business ties with Tehran, threatening secondary sanctions.

These measures aim to intensify economic pressure on Iran to resolve the American-Israeli war against Tehran, which began in February.

The U.S. currently has no ambassador in Russia. Meanwhile, Moscow maintains a close strategic partnership with Iran, spanning military, economic, and diplomatic spheres.

Earlier, Tehran supplied Russia with drones for use in the war against Ukraine. In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of handing over a Russian version of these drones to Iran.

In April, Reuters, citing a Ukrainian intelligence assessment, reported that Russia allegedly provided Iran with satellite imagery to prepare strikes on U.S. facilities in the Middle East.

Moscow denies providing such assistance to Tehran and says it is ready to help resolve the U.S.-Iranian conflict.