Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe held an unannounced meeting at Shannon Airport in County Clare on Monday, September 21, during brief transatlantic stopovers.

According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, the two figures spoke informally on the tarmac while their respective aircraft were being refuelled. Details regarding the exact topics of their conversation have not been publicly disclosed.

Zelenskyy was en route to New York to participate in the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly. Ratcliffe was returning to Washington following a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, according to one of the sources.

The brief encounter in Ireland comes less than a month after Ratcliffe conducted an unannounced visit to Moscow in late August to meet with senior Russian intelligence officials regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine. Shannon Airport regularly serves as a transatlantic refuelling hub for international diplomatic and military flights.