This Phone Call Was a Long Time Coming

The heads of the CIA and SVR—that's Russia's foreign intelligence agency—reportedly spoke in November 2022. Then, nothing—until Tuesday, reports CBS News. The phone call between CIA Director John Ratcliffe and the SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin was reported by Russian state news agency Tass, which said the men "agreed on regular contact" between their agencies "in order to contribute to the international stability and security, as well as a decrease in confrontation in relations between Moscow and Washington."

The development took place on the same day the US and Ukraine hashed out a potential 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine; Russia has yet to weigh in on whether it will agree to it. The CIA hasn't commented on the call, which Axios describes as "one of several conversations between US and Russian officials expected to take place over the next few days." Among them: Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is slated to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday.

The Moscow Times reports it will reportedly be Witkoff's second meeting with Putin since President Trump took office: Fox News host Sean Hannity in February claimed Witkoff spent 3 1/2 hours with Putin when negotiating the release of American Marc Fogel. Witkoff later indicated something like that had occurred, saying that he'd "spent a lot of time with President Putin, talking, developing a friendship." (More US-Russia relations stories.)