Headlines
Russian and U.S. spy chiefs agree to call at any time, SVR director says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 29, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 29, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Russian and U.S. spy chiefs agree to direct communication, enhancing dialogue amid geopolitical tensions.
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian spy chief Sergei Naryshkin said in remarks published on Sunday that he had spoken to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, and that they had agreed to call each other at any time.
The CIA and Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the successor to the KGB's famed First Chief Directorate, have long been intense rivals, and each service resorted to public campaigns to recruit agents in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
SVR Director Naryshkin told Kremlin state television reporter Pavel Zarubin that he had a call with the CIA's Ratcliffe and agreed on calling each other to discuss issues of interest.
"I had a phone call with my American counterpart and we reserved for each other the possibility to call each other at any time and discuss issues of interest to us," Naryshkin told Zarubin.
Naryshkin's last known call with the CIA director took place in March 2025, according to Russian media.
The SVR and its predecessors have run some of the most damaging known agents in U.S. history, including Julius Rosenberg, who helped the Soviets obtain nuclear secrets, and the moles Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames who betrayed thousands of U.S. secrets.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
The article mentions Sergei Naryshkin, the Russian spy chief, and John Ratcliffe, the director of the CIA.
Naryshkin stated that he had a phone call with Ratcliffe and they agreed to call each other at any time to discuss issues of interest.
According to Russian media, Naryshkin's last known call with the CIA director took place in March 2025.
The CIA and Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) have been intense rivals, engaging in public campaigns to discredit each other.
The SVR and its predecessors have been linked to damaging espionage cases in U.S. history, including Julius Rosenberg and Robert Hanssen.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
