Kremlin confirms Roman Abramovich’s role in Ukraine-Russia negotiations

Kremlin has confirmed that Roman Abramovich, who formerly owned football club Chelsea, has been part of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, CNN reported. Media reports had already emerged that Abramovich was helping facilitate potential peace talks. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, in a conference call Thursday, said Abramovich “did take part in the negotiations at the initial stage, that is true”. He also added, “And now the negotiations are going on between the two negotiating teams – Russian and Ukrainian”, as per CNN. 

Peskov said this in reply to a question about a Wall Street Journal article that US President Joe Biden had held off on sanctions on Abramovich after Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky urged restraint due to the oligarch’s role in potentially making peace negotiations. 

Meanwhile, Financial Times reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally endorsed Abramovich’s role in peace talks. 

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It’s unclear what role he’s playing at present in the talks between the two nations. Abramovich stepped down from his ownership role at Chelsea when the UK began targeting Russian individuals with sanctions to drive oligarchs into pressurizing Moscow to stop the war. However, the sale of the club was halted since Abramovich’s assets have been frozen by the British government. 

Despite a series of failed talks between Russia and Ukraine, the latter has said that the former’s position seems more realistic in peace talks now, while Russia too has admitted it is prepared for more active and substantial talks on Ukraine. 

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Kremlin’s statement came after Zelensky urged for a need to have a talk, laying all cards on the table. He proposed a ceasefire in exchange for Ukraine not joining NATO and mentioned that Donbas and Crimea would be up for discussion too, in an address where he gave an ultimatum to NATO whether they’d accept Ukraine as a member. However, Zelensky asserted he’d only meet Putin for these talks.