Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kesh Patel will travel to Moscow and St. Petersburg in mid-October — this will be the first visit by the director of an American intelligence agency to Russia since 2013.
Politico writes about this, citing sources.
According to the source, Patel plans to first stop in Moscow and then in St. Petersburg. The American official will likely be hosted by the Russian FSB. There is no information yet on whether the FBI director will meet with Putin or other senior Russian officials. The visit is scheduled for October 14-15, but these plans are preliminary and may still change.
Politico clarifies that the plans for the visit emerged against the backdrop of the US and Russia being unable to reach an agreement on how to end the war in Ukraine, and US lawmakers demanding tough sanctions against Russia.
Robert Mueller was the last FBI director to visit Russia in 2013. He later led the investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
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