CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a surprise Moscow visit and held talks with Russian intelligence officials, but did not meet Vladimir Putin. Trump called Ratcliffe’s Russia trip “semi-routine” as questions grow over the secret CIA mission, Ukraine war and US-Russia tensions. Why did Ratcliffe travel to Moscow? Is the Trump administration seeking a Ukraine peace deal or a wider diplomatic breakthrough?

It marks the first such visit since the invasion of Ukraine.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow on Tuesday aboard a U.S. military transport plane, Axios and CBS News reported, with sources familiar with the trip saying that the…