Billionaire Roman Abramovich participated in organizing ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to reach a ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Thursday.
“Yes, he participated in the initial phase” of the organization of the talks, said the Press Secretary of the Russian Presidency at his daily telephone press conference, in which he stressed that negotiations now take place only between negotiators from the two delegations.
The US newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported that earlier this month, Treasury Department officials drew up a series of sanctions against the Russian oligarch following the military offensive launched by the Kremlin on February 24 against Ukraine.
However, the National Security Council of the White House suspended them at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky, who recommended that his US counterpart, Joe Biden, wait with restrictions against Abramovich, who could serve as a mediator with Russia in assisting in the negotiation process, he says. the newspaper.
So far, the two sides have met in person on three occasions - on 28 February, 3 March and 7 March - in Belarusian territory, while on the 10th the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov and Dmitro Kuleba, respectively, met in Antalya.
Since then, negotiations have taken place almost daily in the format of videoconference at the level of both delegations and working groups.
Although Abramivich is not part of the list of Russian oligarchs sanctioned in the United States, he was sanctioned by the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) for his “close relationship for decades” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Following these sanctions, which froze Abramovich's assets and prevent him from entering the UK and the EU, the Russian billionaire announced the sale of Chelsea football club, the current European champion.
But the oligarch now sees this transaction suspended due to the freezing of his assets. The billionaire with a cropped white beard, melancholy look and shy reputation cannot do business with British individuals or companies or travel to this country either.
Unavoidable character of the global jet-set and owner of a luxurious 15-room residence in the elegant London neighborhood of Kensington, Abramovich, 55, is one of those businessmen who became meteorically wealthy in the 1990s, following the introduction of market economy in Russia , acquiring considerable political influence.
The first shareholder of the steel company Evraz, with a fortune estimated by Forbes of more than $13 billion, its activities in the United Kingdom were a problem for the Boris Johnson government, pressured to end Russian money flows, sometimes of dubious origin, in the City, the financial heart of London.
With information from EFE
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