CIA Chief Ratcliffe Meets Zelenskyy At Irish Airport

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Shannon Airport in County Clare, Ireland, on Monday, September 21, 2026, during a refueling stop, according to two people familiar with the matter. The two officials spoke informally while their aircraft were being refueled, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the meeting. No details of their conversation were disclosed, and neither the CIA nor Ukrainian officials have publicly confirmed the encounter. Zelenskyy was traveling to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders are gathering this week. Ratcliffe was returning to the United States following a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, according to a source familiar with his travel. The Shannon meeting comes less than a month after Ratcliffe visited Moscow and held discussions with senior Russian intelligence officials. Neither Ratcliffe nor the CIA has publicly detailed those talks. One source told Reuters that Ukraine was among the issues discussed during the Moscow trip. U.S.