Trump secretly sent his envoy to Russia for talks – media

US President Donald Trump sent the head of the US Fine Arts Commission, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., to St. Petersburg on a secret diplomatic mission this summer. He met with Kremlin officials to try to get talks on Russia’s war against Ukraine moving forward.

This is reported by the Financial Times, citing informed sources.

According to the publication, Cook Jr. received a diplomatic passport and underwent detailed briefings before the trip. In June, he arrived in St. Petersburg, where he participated in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

During the visit, the American official met with Kremlin representatives, and the Russian side provided him with diplomatic protection. Cook himself called his trip a cultural visit and showed photos of his dacha in Atlanta during the conversation.

One of the Russian officials he met with, according to the FT’s interlocutor, was Vladimir Putin’s senior aide Anton Kobyakov.

The publication’s sources claim that Washington was hoping to use atypical envoys like Cook to find a way out of the diplomatic impasse surrounding Russia’s war against Ukraine.

At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in June that he knew nothing about the American delegation to St. Petersburg.

During his speech at the economic forum, Cook also conveyed sincere greetings to Putin from his friend, President Trump.

On the opening day of the forum, an American witnessed a Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian oil refinery on the Neva River. The attack sent plumes of black smoke billowing over the city.

Cook told reporters that the impact was too close to feel safe.

At the same time, he did not disclose the details of the negotiations with Russian officials and did not answer whether Trump instructed him to continue contacts with Moscow. When asked about possible new trips, Cook said that he has many requests and is currently working on them.

As a reminder, the White House has not yet confirmed the visit of US President’s special representative Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kyiv . It was previously expected that they could arrive in Ukraine in the second half of August, in particular on Independence Day.