Secret Mission: Trump Official Met With Putin Adviser in Russia

An American official named Cook secretly visited St. Petersburg in June, where he met with Anton Kobyakov, a special adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Financial Times reported the visit, citing anonymous sources.

Before travelling to Russia, Cook was issued a diplomatic passport and security detail by the Trump administration. Officially, the trip to Russia's second-largest city was billed as a cultural visit — the official reportedly even showed Russian counterparts photos of his residence in Atlanta. In reality, according to the newspaper, his true purpose was to break the deadlock in diplomatic talks between Washington and Moscow.

First US Official Since 2017

Cook became the first official US representative to attend the St. Petersburg forum since 2017. It was there that he met with Kobyakov. Details of their conversation remain unknown, but Financial Times sources confirmed that the White House hoped the visit would help break the diplomatic impasse surrounding peace negotiations over Ukraine.

Cook himself declined to comment on the trip to St. Petersburg or what was discussed at the meeting, citing a heavy workload. "We have a lot of requests. We're working through them right now," he said.

Secretary of State Says He Knew Nothing

Back in June, American journalists questioned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Cook's trip, and he claimed at the time to have been completely unaware of it. It appears the visit was designed from the outset to fly under the public radar and shield the White House from criticism.

The Trump administration officially backs Ukraine, yet it has not supplied the country with any military aid and has temporarily eased some sanctions against Russia. Trump's willingness to engage with Moscow has already drawn sharp criticism on multiple occasions, and the extent of his administration's involvement in Cook's trip remains unclear.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz