Overview

• SVR Director Sergei Naryshkin said on June 29 that he and CIA Director John Ratcliffe reserved the right to call one another at any time to discuss mutual interests.
• The agreement, disclosed on Kremlin state television to reporter Pavel Zarubin, updates their first direct call in March during U.S. efforts to broker a Ukraine ceasefire.
• The SVR, successor to the KGB’s First Chief Directorate, and the CIA have run public recruitment campaigns since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
• The open-line protocol is intended for crisis management as Russia intensifies its largest aerial assault on Ukraine to date.
• Longstanding espionage betrayals by Julius Rosenberg, Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames highlight the deep mistrust shaping U.S.–Russia intelligence ties.