Report: FBI Chief Plans Moscow Trip

According to the publication, Patel is set to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg on October 14-15 and is expected to meet with officials from Russia’s Federal Security Service [FSB]. The last FBI director known to have visited Russia was Robert Mueller in 2013.

A longtime ally of US President Donald Trump, Patel has worked to counter allegations by Democrats that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election, a theory he has dismissed as the “Russiagate hoax.”

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again rejected what he called “baseless” claims that Russia sought to influence the outcome of US elections.

Direct negotiations on the Ukraine conflict, restarted by Trump last year, have stalled in recent months as the US has been preoccupied with the war in the Middle East.

Although Moscow has repeatedly said it remains ready to resume talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov argued earlier this month that the West was “imitating a willingness to negotiate while openly issuing ultimatums to Russia.”

“We will no longer believe the West when it claims to want negotiated solutions. Our reserve of goodwill and hope has been exhausted once and for all,” Lavrov said.

Russian officials have largely blamed Ukraine’s European backers for attempting to sabotage the negotiations. Following a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 4, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised the American leader for “being open to hearing” Russia’s position on Ukraine.