Abramovich Carried Messages Between Ukraine and Russia for Peace Talks

The former Chelsea owner acted as an intermediary between Ukraine and Russia to facilitate peace talks. Ukrainian officials met with him in Kyiv, where he delivered a message from Moscow and offered to take a reply directly to the Russian president.

The Ukrainian president told Sky News that the Russian side wanted to understand what Ukraine was prepared to do. Officials said the former Chelsea owner was ready to deliver any response to the Russian president.

The Ukrainian president stated that the key issue was territory.

Officials said they would not leave their territory and would not grant Russia a victory in that manner. The Ukrainian president also said he was ready to meet the Russian president at any time starting the next day, in any location other than Russia or Belarus, and with either the current U.S. president or European leaders present.

The former Chelsea owner was sanctioned by the UK shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 due to his connections with the Russian president. The sale of the football club resulted in £2.5 billion being frozen in a UK bank account, with proceeds designated for humanitarian causes in Ukraine.

In December last year, UK officials called on the former Chelsea owner to transfer the £2.5 billion to humanitarian causes for Ukraine. Officials stated the government was prepared to enforce the transfer through the courts. The former Chelsea owner previously helped arrange a prisoner swap in 2022 that led to the release of five British men captured fighting for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president is currently in the UK, where officials met with UK, French, and German leaders on Sunday to call for an immediate ceasefire.