Zelenskyy met Abramovich in Kyiv to pass message to Putin – FT

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy passed a message proposing a meeting to Russian ruler Vladimir Putin through Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Source: Financial Times, citing four sources

Details: Last month, Zelenskyy invited sanctioned Russian billionaire and former owner of Chelsea FC Roman Abramovich to Kyiv in an attempt to persuade Putin to hold direct peace negotiations.

According to sources, Zelenskyy asked Abramovich to pass a message to the Russian ruler indicating his readiness to hold a bilateral meeting with him.

Ukraine wished to demonstrate its seriousness regarding direct peace negotiations with Russia, even as the US – which has been attempting to mediate a ceasefire – is distracted by the war in the Middle East, sources added.

Two senior Ukrainian officials described the message Zelenskyy sent via Abramovich as similar to the open letter to Putin published on 4 June on the Ukrainian president's website. One official noted that the tone of the message was less confrontational than the public letter.

Putin stated on 5 June that on 21 May he had met with "one of the representatives of our business circles" and "this, shall we say, colleague", telling him he saw no point in meeting Zelenskyy.

"The only sense in it is for the Ukrainians to stop the advance of our armed forces," Putin said at an economic conference in St Petersburg. The Russian leader added that the businessman had not acted in an official capacity. Neither Ukraine nor Russia named the businessman.

FT notes that Abramovich has been involved in mediating negotiations between Russia and Ukraine since the first weeks of the full-scale war in 2022, and also helped broker a deal securing Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea later that year.

Although Abramovich's role became less prominent after Russia began holding direct talks with the US last year, he remains involved in prisoner exchanges and other bilateral negotiations with Ukraine, including aspects of the US-led "peace plan", according to those close to him.

"He is needed because he is the only Russian they will tolerate. He gets along with everyone," one source said.

Another source close to Abramovich noted that, according to the Russian oligarch, Zelenskyy "thinks he can solve everything through the magic of his personal charisma at a leadership meeting". Abramovich reportedly describes Zelenskyy's initiative as a "captains' competition".

Quote: "This is not something Putin goes for at all. And it doesn't really work on Trump either. But Zelenskyy is totally fixated on it."

More details: One source close to Zelenskyy expressed doubt that "anything substantial will happen before the end of summer" regarding negotiations with Russia, noting that Washington is focused on Iran and that Moscow has not yet accepted that it will not be able to seize the remainder of Donbas this summer.

Background:

• In his open letter of 4 June, Zelenskyy proposed that Putin set a date and meet to end the war, calling for Europe and the US to be involved in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations.
• On 5 June, Putin stated that he had read Zelenskyy's open letter and "sees no point in holding a meeting". The Russian leader also said that Zelenskyy had allegedly asked him for a meeting through a Russian businessmen.

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