The American military transport aircraft Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, as revealed on Tuesday from Flightradar24 data, flew in the morning from Riga to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport. It arrived in the Latvian capital from the state of Maryland, where an airbase is located, which hosts, among others, the US military’s presidential aircraft.
After reports of the US military plane’s arrival, a motorcade with American diplomatic plates was seen on Moscow streets on Tuesday.
Dmitry Peskov previously stated that the Kremlin has no information about the American military plane that arrived at Vnukovo. Representatives of the US Department of Defense, the White House, the US Embassy in Moscow, and the Russian Embassy in Washington did not promptly respond to questions about the flight’s purpose, NBC notes.
If the CIA director indeed flew to Moscow, it would be the first such visit since the start of the war in Ukraine. The previous one took place in November 2021. Then US intelligence chief William Burns arrived secretly to warn the Kremlin that the US knew about Vladimir Putin’s planned invasion and to caution him against taking that step.
The American military plane also flew to Russia in February during a prisoner exchange, the British publication The iPaper notes. At that time, American teacher Mark Fogel was released from a Russian prison and handed over to the US.
On Monday, another American plane, a Boeing C-40 Clipper used to transport high-ranking officials, landed in Riga, also arriving from the Maryland airbase. Typically, its passengers may include members of the presidential administration, members of Congress, or military commanders.
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Were Kushner and Witkoff expected?
There have long been no substantive negotiations between Russian and US representatives on resolving the situation in Ukraine. The Kremlin has repeatedly stated about the possible arrival in Moscow of Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the American president’s son-in-law, who might have led such talks.
Some time ago, a TASS source reported that they could visit Kyiv and Moscow before the end of August. However, on Sunday, the agency’s interlocutor said: “The visit is unlikely to take place before the end of August.”
Instead of S. Witkoff and J. Kushner, a Vatican representative arrived in Moscow. Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher held a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and stated that the Vatican is ready to help achieve a peaceful resolution.
“We are ready to offer our goodwill services in any possible way, hoping that the much-desired peace can be achieved as soon as possible,” said P. R. Gallagher.
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