Sanctioned oligarch Abramovich seen at Russia-Ukraine talks
ISTANBUL — Soccer club owner. Ally of Vladimir Putin. Sanctioned oligarch. Could diplomatic go-between be added to the resumé of Roman Abramovich?
The 55-year-old billionaire has swapped the skybox seat he once proudly occupied at his beloved Chelsea soccer club in Britain for a spot on the sidelines of negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow aimed at ending Russia’s bloody war in Ukraine.
The silver-haired oil-andaluminum tycoon stood in the background Tuesday as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan entered a hall packed with negotiators in a government building adjacent to the 19th century Ottoman palace, Dolmabahce, on the shores of the Bosporus in Istanbul.
It was left to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to try to explain Abramovich’s role.
Abramovich has been “ensuring certain contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian sides,” Peskov said, but is not an official member of the delegation. He said both sides have approved his role.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, said, however: “I have no idea what Mr. Abramovich is claiming or doing. He is not a part of the negotiation team.”
The talks appeared to yield a cautious step toward scaling back Moscow’s offensive when Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Russia would “fundamentally” cut back operations near Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv and a northern city in a move to build trust.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the two sides made “the most meaningful progress” since the start of the negotiations at their meeting in Istanbul.
Just being in the room in Istanbul marks a remarkable turnaround for Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the U.K. government and European Union, although he is conspicuous by his absence from a list of oligarchs sanctioned by the United States.
Abramovich appears to have established contacts high in Ukrainian government circles, to go alongside his long-standing links to the Kremlin.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Kyiv had received “signals” with offers of help from Abramovich and others, along with requests to be spared from sanctions.
“Some of them were ready to help restore Ukraine after the war,” he said, before citing their offers: “‘We are ready to give money, we are ready to relocate business to Ukraine. We are now living in England or in Switzerland, we would like to do it. Is it possible not to be on the sanctions list?’”