It has been reported that Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC, who has been acting as an ‘peace ambassador’ in the war between Russia and Ukraine for more than a month, made flights between Istanbul, Moscow and Kyiv to convey messages between Vladimir Putin and Voldimir Zelenskiy. But when Abramovich handed Zelenskiy’s note stating the terms of peace to Putin, the Russian leader allegedly lashed out.
Abramovic is trying to save his reputation after being subject to sanctions by the UK and the EU for his closeness to Putin. The Russian oligarch, whose assets in England and the Continent were frozen, put his Chelsea football club up for sale, as well as his property in London. But hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of yachts and jets remain off-limits as they flee sanctioned waters and airspace.
Zelenskiy is also reportedly begging Joe Biden for the United States to delay imposing sanctions on the Russian oligarch because of Abramovich’s role in the negotiations.
On Wednesday, Abramovic took a private Hawker 800XP jet from Ataturk Airport to Sochi, passing the Black Sea.
The flight tracker went black near the city of Mineralnye Vody and the plane then left Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport and returned to Ankara.
The Russian oligarch, who was on his way to meet with Putin, forwarded Putin a note written in Zelenskiy’s handwriting. The note summarized Ukraine’s position in peace conditions.
According to the Times’ report, Putin’s response was as follows:
‘Tell them I’ll throw the note away.’
Abramovich returned to Istanbul and connected with the Ukrainian politician Rustam Umerov, who is said to have acted as Kiev’s negotiator.