Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed meeting with sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in Kyiv to serve as a backchannel for peace talks with Vladimir Putin. Abramovich offered to carry a message requesting a direct meeting, but Putin later rejected the proposal, seeing 'no point' in it. This marks Zelenskyy's first acknowledgment of Abramovich's role in current negotiations.
Abramovich backchannel diplomacy
- ▪Vladimir Putin acknowledged meeting an unnamed "representative" from Russian business circles but said the person was not acting in an official capacity
- ▪On or around June 5, 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected the proposal for a direct meeting, stating he saw "no point" in it
- ▪The purpose of the meeting was for Roman Abramovich to convey Volodymyr Zelenskyy's request for direct peace talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin
- ▪Roman Abramovich previously participated in unsuccessful peace talks during the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, with the Kremlin noting his "early role."
- ▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in Kyiv for a meeting
- ▪Volodymyr Zelenskyy's comments to Sky News were his first public acknowledgment of Roman Abramovich's travel to Ukraine's capital for negotiations
- ▪Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK and the EU since 2022 over Russia's war in Ukraine and his alleged ties to Putin's regime
- ▪According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Roman Abramovich stated the backchannel communication had to be "silent without any kind of public messages."
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