Vladimir Putin personally approved Roman Abramovich’s involvement in Russia’s peace talks with Ukraine, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.Putin’s direct blessing indicates that Abramovich sought approval at the highest level to help start ceasefire negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow in late February and runs counter to long-running claims by the oligarch that he does not have a close relationship with the Russian president.
After receiving Putin’s backing, Abramovich met a senior official from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office to help set up the talks, three people said.
Since then, the two sides have started discussing a tentative plan to cease Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — although Ukraine and its western allies fear Moscow may be using the talks as a ploy to buy time for its troops to regroup and lead a renewed ground offensive.
The two people with knowledge of the matter said Putin signalled his approval after Abramovich had suggested to the Kremlin that he play a mediating role. “He does indeed have approval from the highest level on both sides,” one of the people said.
The other added: “It’s a big risk for him. But he said, ‘I want to do something’. Putin is unpredictable and can get furious – it’s always very risky. And it brings a lot of attention, which is dangerous.”
Western officials briefed on the progress of the talks have cast doubt on whether Abramovich even played a role. Others have suggested he might have tried to overstate his efforts in an attempt to prevent becoming a target for western sanctions and losing control of his UK-based assets, including Chelsea Football Club.
The Russian billionaire has since been targeted by EU and UK sanctions. Zelensky pleaded for the US not to include the billionaire in its own blacklist because of his supposed role as a go-between in the ceasefire discussions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
For decades Abramovich has sought to avoid being associated with Putin, under whom he served as governor of the remote province of Chukotka on the Bering Strait from 2000 until 2008.
He did not attend a roundtable Putin held for oligarchs and state company bosses the evening after the Ukraine invasion began on February 24. In 2003, he told the Financial Times he had “no special relationship” with Putin.
But when it decided to freeze his assets, the EU said that Abramovich’s connection to the Russian president “helped him to maintain his considerable wealth”.
David Arakhamia, head of Zelensky’s party in parliament and a member of Ukraine’s negotiating team in talks with Russia, said he met Abramovich in Gomel, Belarus, when the first round of talks took place.
“I can confirm that Mr Abramovich is heavily involved in peace talks,” Arakhamia told the FT. The billionaire “came into the process through the international Jewish community”, he added.
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on whether Abramovich had received the go-ahead from Putin himself. Peskov said on Thursday that the businessman had played a role in organising the talks, adding: “Now talks are taking place between the two negotiating teams — the Russians and the Ukrainians.”
In recent weeks, as the two sides held talks online to avoid the Ukrainian delegation making a dangerous day-long trip to Belarus via Poland, Abramovich has focused his efforts on humanitarian issues as well as trying to arrange meetings with foreign mediators, according to the people with knowledge on the matter.
He met former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in Moscow earlier this month, alongside Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation at the talks. His private jet has been pictured making stops in Israel and Turkey, whose leaders have also been involved as mediators in the negotiations.
“He’s trying to do what he can,” one of the people close to the billionaire insisted.
While in Turkey, Abramovich met Ibrahim Kalin, a senior foreign policy adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. Two superyachts belonging to Abramovich docked on the country’s southern coast this week. Erdogan’s office declined to comment and Kalin did not respond to a request for comment.
An official for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett denied Abramovich played a role in securing Israel’s involvement.
A spokesperson for Abramovich said it was “not helpful commenting on the process” of those talks, or on Abramovich’s involvement, for the sake of their success.
https://www.ft.com/content/260fb656-4010-4ffe-96be-a273ec87792b?shareType=nongift
