[Epoch Times, March 24, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu comprehensive report) The Kremlin said on Thursday (March 24) that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was in Russia with Ukraine played an early role in peace talks, but the process is currently in the hands of both negotiating teams.
Because of Abramovich’s background in Russia, Ukraine asked him to help mediate. Abramovich is Jewish, holds Israeli citizenship, and is one of the most powerful businessmen to gain huge fortunes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
“He did take part in the initial phase (negotiations),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters. “The negotiations are now between the Russian and Ukrainian teams. .”
Russia and Ukraine are discussing a peace deal, with talks starting on February 28.
Abramovich made his fortune in the 1990s and was one of the first oligarchs of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency. His biggest breakthrough was the acquisition of Siberia Oil Company (Sibneft) at a very low price. His assets include the world‘s third-longest yacht, the Eclipse.
Under Putin, Abramovich served as governor of Chukotka, Russia’s Far East, remote Arctic region, before buying Chelsea Football Club in 2003.
Currently, the West has imposed sanctions on Abramovich and other Russian billionaires, Russian companies and Russian officials as a way to cut off the Russian economy from the West. Abramović has been sanctioned by the UK, EU and Canada, but not by the US.
Britain said Abramovich had a close relationship with Putin for decades.
Still, some Russian businessmen say it would be naive for the West to think that billionaires like Abramovich can influence Putin on geopolitical issues. They say the real power brokers in modern Russia are no longer oligarchs rising from the ashes of the Soviet Union, but former spies close to Putin.
Abramovich met former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder earlier this month as part of his quest for peace in Russia and Ukraine, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Abramovich was spotted in a VIP lounge at Tel Aviv airport before flying from Istanbul to Moscow on March 15, his second trip this month. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters he did not meet Putin in Moscow on that trip.
Abramovich, an oligarch who owns a majority stake in Russian steelmaker Evraz, has shipped two $1.2 billion superyachts to Turkish ports in recent days. Sources told Reuters he was one of the richest Russians looking to invest in Turkey.
Putin said the “special military operation” against Ukraine was necessary because the United States was using Ukraine to threaten Russia, and Russia must defend itself against Ukraine’s “genocide” of Russian-speaking people.
But Ukraine says it is fighting for its own survival against imperial Russia-style land grabs, and Putin’s claims of genocide are nonsense.
The West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia, which the Kremlin says amounts to a declaration of war by the United States and its allies.
Responsible editor: Zhang Jie#