The American official overseeing the controversial expansion of the White House ballroom, ordered by Donald Trump, held discussions with Kremlin officials in Russia this summer, as part of a discreet diplomatic mission, according to people familiar with the situation.
Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the chairman of the U.S. Fine Arts Commission, received a diplomatic passport and attended numerous briefings before participating in Vladimir Putin’s emblematic economic forum in Saint Petersburg in June, where he met with Kremlin officials and was assigned a diplomatic security team, according to sources cited by the Financial Times.
A passionate admirer of Russian culture, Rodney Mims Cook Jr. presented his journey as a “cultural visit”, during which he showed photos from his “dacha” (ed. vacation home in Russia or former Soviet countries) in the state of Atlanta.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in June that he “was not aware” of the delegation in Saint Petersburg. However, the US hoped that unlikely emissaries like Cook could help break the diplomatic deadlock regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, two people said. One of the people Cook met was Anton Kobiakov, a senior advisor to Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Cook was the first American official to participate in the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, an international benchmark event known as “Putin’s Davos”, since 2018.
The USA boycotted the forum a year later in protest against the arrest of a significant American businessman and avoided participation during the invasion of Ukraine.
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