Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishina confirmed that their National Security and Defence Council head Rustem Umerov, during his recent trips to Florida to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, had also met several times with FBI Director Kash Patel and his Deputy Director Dan Bongino. She told the Washington Post, which broke the story, that the meetings “only covered issues related to national security” that could not be disclosed publicly. She provided no other details.
An FBI official acknowledged to the Post that corruption was discussed, but added that it was not the main topic and that the talks were not inappropriate. An unnamed White House official said that regular communications between U.S. officials and their foreign counterparts is normal.
