Russian and US spy chiefs agree to call at any time, SVR director says
The CIA and Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the successor to the KGB’s famed First Chief Directorate, have long been intense rivals. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin attends the opening ceremony of a monument to civilians killed during World War Two, marking the 80th anniversary of lifting of the Leningrad siege, near the village of Zaitsevo in the Leningrad Region, Russia January 27, 2024. 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 US history, including Julius Rosenberg, who helped the Soviets obtain nuclear secrets, and the moles Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames who betrayed thousands of US secrets.
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