In May, Abramovich visited Kyiv, and Zelenskyy tried, through him, to persuade Putin to agree to direct talks, - FT
In May, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich visited Kyiv at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian leader sought to use him to persuade Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to agree to direct peace talks.
The Financial Times reports this, citing four sources, according to Censor.NET.
Abramovich’s visit to Kyiv
"On 21 May, Zelenskyy asked Abramovich to convey a message to Putin that he was ready to meet him for the first bilateral summit in over four years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine," the source said.
According to the sources, Kyiv sought to demonstrate the seriousness of its intentions regarding direct talks with Moscow, "despite the fact that the US has been distracted by the war in the Middle East".
"He (Abramovich, ed.) is needed because he is the only Russian they are willing to tolerate. He gets on well with everyone," said one of the publication’s sources, describing the Russian oligarch’s role in the mediation efforts.
A source close to Abramovich noted that, according to the Russian oligarch, Zelenskyy "believes he can resolve everything through the magic of his personal charisma at a leaders’ summit".
Abramovich, however, according to the source, describes Zelenskyy’s desire for such a meeting as a "captains’ contest" from KVN.
"This is not at all what Putin is interested in. And it doesn’t particularly work on Trump either. But Zelenskyy is literally obsessed with it," the source added.
Two senior Ukrainian officials reported that the message conveyed via Abramovich was similar in content to the open letter to Putin. At the same time, one of the officials noted that the tone of the private communication was less harsh than in the published letter.
The FT notes that Abramovich has been helping to mediate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since the early weeks of the full-scale war in 2022. Abramovich also helped broker a deal that secured the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea later that year.
Although Abramovich’s role has become less prominent since Russia began direct talks with the US last year, he remains involved, according to those close to him, in prisoner exchanges and other bilateral talks with Ukraine, particularly regarding aspects of the US-led ‘peace plan’.
What led up to this?
On 5 June, Putin himself stated during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that the Russian businessman had allegedly travelled to Kyiv for a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy’s letter to Putin
- On 4 June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published an open letter to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, in which he proposed a meeting.
- In the letter, Zelenskyy proposed to Putin that they end the war "between you and us" and set a specific date for the meeting. Among the countries that could host such a meeting, the head of state named Switzerland, Turkey, and countries in the Arab world.
- On 5 June, Putin said that he had "glanced over" Zelenskyy’s open letter that morning and had "never refused" the Ukrainian president a meeting, but was against "talking at cross-purposes" and currently saw "no point" in direct negotiations.
