2025-12-12 18:13
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2025-12-12 18:13
Chief Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov recently held secret meetings with FBI chief Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino. The talks have alarmed Western officials, the Washington Post wrote on Friday.
In the last few weeks, Umerov flew to Miami three times to meet with Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and talk about ending the war in his country. In the US, he also met behind closed doors with Patel and Bongino, four people who asked to remain anonymous told the newspaper.
The meetings have raised concerns among Western officials who do not know what the purpose of the talks was. According to some, Umierov and other Ukrainian officials approached Patel and Bongino in hopes of amnesty for corruption charges the Ukrainians may face. Other officials fear that this newly created communication channel could be used to pressure Ukrainian authorities to accept the Trump administration's peace proposal, which includes major concessions from Kiev.
Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Olha Stefanishyna, confirmed that Umerov met with the FBI and said they discussed “only matters related to national security” that could not be disclosed.
An FBI representative said the talks focused on shared interests in law enforcement and national security. The issue of corruption in Ukraine came up at one of the meetings, but was not its main topic, the source maintained. Suggesting that the meetings with Patel were inappropriate is “complete nonsense,” the WP interlocutor argued.
A White House official said that “U.S. officials communicate regularly with world leaders on national security issues of mutual concern.” He added that Trump's national security team is “talking to both Russians and Ukrainians to reach an agreement to end the war” and that those raising concerns about the meetings with the FBI “have no access to these diplomatic discussions and have no idea what they are talking about.”
A source in the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not reveal the details of the meetings, but emphasized that “it is stupid to link everything with corruption.”
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) disclosed information about the participants in the extensive corruption mechanism in the energy industry. They collected bribes ranging from 10 to 15 percent from contractors of Enerhoatom, the state operator of nuclear power plants. contract values. Illegal means were to be legalized by the so-called back office in the center of Kiev, through which – as it was determined – approximately USD 100 million passed through. At the end of the month, Zelensky announced that the head of his office, Andriy Yermak, whose name was included in the investigation into the corruption scandal, had resigned.
From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)
Sun/ penalties/
