Russia's foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, held a phone call on Tuesday with the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.

John Ratcliffe, Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, and Sergei Naryshkin, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, held a telephone conversation on 11 March. Source: European Pravda,

The rare exchange between SVR and CIA signals a potential shift in Washington-Moscow relations.

The heads of the U.S. and Russian intelligence agencies spoke by phone and agreed to maintain regular contact in an effort to ease tensions between the two countries, Russian state media reported Wednesday.