FBI director Kash Patel to visit Russia amid Ukraine sanctions push

FBI Director Kash Patel is planning to travel to Moscow and St Petersburg on October 14 and 15. He is expected to be hosted by the FSB, the Russian intelligence service, though it remains unclear if he will meet President Vladimir Putin. The FBI and Justice Department have not yet commented on the matter.

The visit comes at a critical juncture for European security, as US lawmakers on Capitol Hill are actively pushing for tougher sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. It follows 18 months of failed diplomacy by the Trump administration, including trips by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and a direct meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska last August.

For European capitals watching Washington's commitment to penalising Moscow, the diplomatic signals are mixed. The trip lands just weeks before the US midterm elections and days after Trump delivered a primetime address alleging foreign interference in the 2020 vote. That claim was undermined when declassified documents posted by the White House revealed a US intelligence assessment concluding Russia had actually meddled to benefit Trump, not his opponent.

Patel has long dismissed investigations into Russian election interference as a hoax. He rose to prominence investigating the matter on the House Intelligence Committee and later wrote a trilogy of children’s books about it. His confirmation hearings also revealed a $25,000 payment from Igor Lopatonok, a Russian filmmaker with ties to Putin, for contributions to a documentary.

The planned visit has drawn fierce domestic criticism. MAGA influencer Laura Loomer wrote on X: “Our FBI Director, who was an unregistered lobbyist for Qatar, is heading to Russia as the White House prepares to impose more sanctions on Russia, which is supplying Iran with weapons to murder U.S. soldiers. Nothing to see here.” Former Democratic strategist Jon Cooper asked: “Can ANYONE think of a legitimate reason for him to visit Putin’s playground? I wonder if ‘consulting with his handlers’ will be on the official itinerary?”

An FBI director has not visited Russia since Robert Mueller made the trip in 2013. Since taking office, Patel has faced repeated questions over his travel, including accusations of using government aircraft to fly his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, to performances. The optics of an FBI chief being hosted by the FSB while Congress seeks to punish that same apparatus will likely deepen European anxieties about the consistency of US policy toward Russia.