President Donald Trump's top two FBI leaders have sparked concerns with their closed-door meetings with a high-ranking Ukrainian official.
The secret meetings between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's top peace negotiator, Rustem Umerov, and FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have injected new uncertainty into talks to end that country's war against Russia and caused alarm among Western officials about their purpose and intent, reported the Washington Post.
Umerov has flown to Miami three times in the past several weeks to meet with President Donald Trump’s top envoy, Steve Witkoff, to discuss ending the war, but four sources told the Post that he also meet privately with Patel and Bongino.
Umerov and other Ukrainian officials may have approached Patel and Bongino seeking protection from potential corruption charges, some believe, while others fear the new communication channel could be leveraged to pressure Zelensky's government into accepting a Trump-proposed peace deal that would require significant concessions.
Ukrainian Ambassador Olha Stefanishyna confirmed Umerov’s meeting with the FBI officials but told the newspaper he “only covered national security related issues” that could not be disclosed publicly.
An FBI official told the Post that Patel and Bongino had discussed with Umerov their shared law enforcement and national security interests, including white collar corruption in Ukraine, but insisted that any suggestion the talks were inappropriate is “complete nonsense."
Ukraine is facing a far-reaching corruption scandal after investigators alleged that $100 million had been stolen from the country’s energy sector, and eight people, including Zelensky’s former business partner, have been accused of embezzlement, money laundering and other crimes.
“They do have a massive corruption situation going on there,” Trump told reporters this week. “People are asking this question: When do they have an election?”
Ukraine remains under martial law, postponing presidential and parliamentary elections, since Russia's 2022 invasion, and there is speculation that Umerov, who serves as the country's national security adviser, may be implicated in the embezzlement investigation.
“A person who has grown a tail with corruption allegations shouldn’t chair fateful negotiations until they cut the tail,” said Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Volodymyr Ariev.
