Was It No Coincidence That The CIA Director Flew To Moscow Via Riga?

• 31.08.2026, 8:14

The Ukrainian diplomat's account.

The U.S. director was routed on a strange flight from the U.S. to Russia with a layover in Riga for a reason, according to Valery Chaly , the former Ukrainian ambassador to Washington . In this way, first of all, they were trying to send a signal to the Kremlin, demonstrating that the Baltic states are under the reliable protection of the United States. Second, John Ratcliffe may have delivered some kind of message to the Latvian authorities while spending some time at the airport before boarding the C-17. Valery Chaly shared his version of the CIA director’s visit to Moscow with viewers “Channel 24” on YouTube.

“The route went through Riga. It’s clear that this isn’t a secret route. Everything was visible there—it was obvious. He demonstratively flew through Riga (Latvia) there and back. I think this is a signal. It’s hard to explain it any other way, because refueling and maintenance for such aircraft don’t take place there. They have bases in Europe that specialize in this. You can simply look up who has flown to Moscow via Riga. “I think you’ll be searching for a very long time,” the diplomat noted, pointing out an important detail.

“What does this mean? Perhaps he was sending a signal that we’re with the Baltic states—that America remembers. That’s where the interactions at the airport take place. What do we know about Moscow? We don’t know for sure who he met with. We’ve only heard that the head of Russian intelligence, Naryshkin, stated that he had a meeting, but his eyes were lying and his hands were shaking—which means he wasn’t the only one who met with him. Here, one can assume that a meeting with Putin was being prepared or had already taken place. “I’m 90% certain that a meeting with Putin was being prepared or had already taken place,” Chaly added.