Kiev\u2019s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and FBI chief Kash Patel\u2019s recent meetings were reportedly not related to the Ukraine conflict<\/p>\n
Kiev\u2019s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, has reportedly sought the FBI\u2019s protection from a major probe launched by Ukraine\u2019s anti-graft agencies in a series of clandestine meetings with the bureau\u2019s chief.
\nUmerov, the former Ukrainian defense minister and incumbent head of the National Security Council, became Kiev\u2019s lead negotiator after the downfall of Andrey Yermak, Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s enigmatic chief of staff.
\nYermak was forced out of the administration after Ukraine\u2019s Western-backed anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor\u2019s 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\u2019s inner circle.
\nUkrainian 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.
\nIn recent weeks, Umerov has visited the US multiple times, meeting President Donald Trump\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Corruption-hit aide still calling shots in Kiev \u2013 media<\/p>\n
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.
\nIt 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.
\nThe fresh report echoed a recent piece by the Washington Post that suggested the secrecy around the Umerov-Patel contacts \u201chas caused alarm\u201d among Western officials. While some of the Post\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kiev\u2019s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and FBI chief Kash Patel\u2019s recent meetings were reportedly not related to the Ukraine conflict Kiev\u2019s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, has reportedly sought the FBI\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}