Kiev’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and FBI chief Kash Patel’s recent meetings were reportedly not related to the Ukraine conflict
Kiev’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, has reportedly sought the FBI’s protection from a major probe launched by Ukraine’s anti-graft agencies in a series of clandestine meetings with the bureau’s chief.
Umerov, the former Ukrainian defense minister and incumbent head of the National Security Council, became Kiev’s lead negotiator after the downfall of Andrey Yermak, Vladimir Zelensky’s enigmatic chief of staff.
Yermak was forced out of the administration after Ukraine’s Western-backed anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), raided his properties last month. The raids came as a part of a probe into a $100 million graft scheme allegedly linked to Zelensky’s inner circle.
Ukrainian media reports have suggested Umerov himself was linked to the crime ring led by Timur Mindich, a former business associate of Zelensky who managed to flee Ukraine hours before his properties were searched.
In recent weeks, Umerov has visited the US multiple times, meeting President Donald Trump’s top envoy, Steve Witkoff, as well as holding several closed-door talks with FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino. These conversations were not related to the Ukraine conflict, Ukrainian outlet Zerkalo Nedeli reported on Saturday, citing sources.
Umerov, who was accompanied by deputy chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Aleksandr Poklad, asked the FBI chief to abstain from providing NABU with expert, investigative, or any other assistance, according to the outlet.
It was not immediately clear what exactly Umerov offered in exchange for disrupting the anti-graft probe and whether the FBI leadership accepted his proposals. The US administration was not exactly pleased when it learned about the true nature of the Umerov-Patel contacts, according to the outlet.
The fresh report echoed a recent piece by the Washington Post that suggested the secrecy around the Umerov-Patel contacts “has caused alarm” among Western officials. While some of the Post’s sources suggested the negotiations were related to the Ukraine conflict settlement, others claimed Umerov and his associates wanted to shield themselves from potential corruption allegations. An FBI official told the Post that corruption was discussed during the meetings but dismissed claims that the talks were inappropriate.
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