Rustem Umierov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, has held secret meetings with the leadership of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation which, media reports say, have added a new layer of uncertainty to the peace settlement process over the war launched by Russia.

Source: The Washington Post, citing sources, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Washington Post says that over the last several weeks, Umierov flew to Miami at least three times for talks with members of US President Donald Trump's team, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

However, sources say that during his time in the United States, Umierov also held closed-door meetings with FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino.

This caused concern among Western officials, who still do not know the intentions or objectives behind these meetings.

Some of them said they believe Umierov and other Ukrainian officials approached Patel and Bongino in the hope of securing amnesty from any potential corruption charges that Ukrainian officials might face.

Others fear that the newly created communication channel could be used to pressure Zelenskyy's government into accepting a "peace deal" proposed by the Trump administration that includes serious concessions for Kyiv.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, confirmed that Umierov met with the FBI leadership and told The Washington Post that he "only covered national security related issues" that cannot be made public.

An FBI official said that meetings with Umierov addressed matters related to the two countries' shared interests in law enforcement and national security.

The issue of corruption among senior Ukrainian officials was raised at one of the meetings but was not the main topic, the FBI official noted.

A White House official said that "US officials regularly communicate with world leaders about national security issues of shared interest".

Quote: "The official added that Trump's national security team has been 'speaking with both the Russians and the Ukrainians to facilitate a deal to end the war' and that anyone raising concerns about the FBI meetings 'are not privy to these diplomatic conversations and have no idea what they are talking about'."

Read more: Security at a crossroads. How US and Russia push for a new European order through "peace" in Ukraine

Background:

• Recently, Umierov and Witkoff held a meeting on a "peace plan".
• A previous such meeting between the United States and Ukraine took place on 4 December in Florida. The Ukrainian delegation was invited after US-Russia talks in Moscow on 2 December in order to be briefed on them.

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