CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Russia's spy chief hold phone call, first such contact in more than 2 years

The heads of U.S. and Russian spy agencies have have spoken by phone and agreed to keep up regular contacts to lower the temperature in U.S.-Russia relations, news reports said Wednesday.

In the first such contact in more than two years, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and the head of SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence agency, spoke by phone Tuesday, Russian state news agency TASS said.

Ratcliffe and Sergei Naryshkin "agreed on regular contact" between their agencies "in order to contribute to the international stability and security, as well as a decrease in confrontation in relations between Moscow and Washington," TASS reported.