Roman Abramovich ‘heads to Poland to act as a negotiator between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin’
- According to local media reports, the billionaire took a train to Poland Thursday
- Investigative journalist Jakob Stachowiak said he used his Portuguese passport
- Zelensky had previously asked Biden not to impose sanctions on the Russian, saying he ‘may turn out to be an important intermediary in peace negotiations’
- Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday confirmed Abramovich attended a first round of peace talks between the two sides in Belarus
Shamed Chelsea FC oligarch Roman Abramovich has reportedly gone to Poland to act as a negotiator between US President Joe Biden and Russia’s Putin.
According to local media reports, the 55-year-old billionaire – who was recently sanctioned by the EU and UK – took a train to Poland on Thursday using his Portuguese passport.
Posting on social media, investigative journalist Jakob Stachowiak from broadcaster TVN said: ‘Yesterday he came to Poland in secret from Ukraine by the smart train.
‘Interestingly, he used a Portuguese passport. Perhaps there will be an informal meeting with the president. Has Putin sent a billionaire?’
He added: ‘The oligarch got to Poland from the territory of Ukraine, where he was allegedly talking to President Volodymir Zelensky.
Zelensky had previously asked Biden not to impose sanctions on the Russian, saying he ‘may turn out to be an important intermediary in peace negotiations with Russia.’
Shamed Chelsea FC oligarch Roman Abramovich has reportedly gone to Poland to act as a negotiator between US President Joe Biden and Russia’s Putin
Abramovich’s luxury lifestyle is being squeezed by EU and UK sanctions – and now the US has moved to prevent his Gulfstream plane from making international flights
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday confirmed Abramovich attended a first round of peace talks between the two sides in Belarus during the first week of Putin’s brutal invasion of his neighbour – that has now dragged on for four weeks.
The news of comes as Biden arrived on a two-day trip to the Polish border town of Rzeszow where he called for NATO unity and slammed Putin as being ‘war criminal.
He said: ‘The single most important thing we can do from the outset is keep the democracies united in our opposition and effort to curtail the devastation that is occurring at the hands of a man who, quite frankly, I think is a war criminal, and I think will meet the legal definition of that as well.’
Abramovich who is a Russian–Portuguese–Israeli billionaire, was close to the Kremlin during the reign of Boris Yeltsin.
He is said to have been the first person to recommend Putin to Yeltsin as his replacement. During Putin’s time in power, Abramovich was the governor of the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug for eight years.
After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the UK imposed sanctions on Abramovich, who has been the owner of Chelsea for almost 20 years since buying the West London football club in 2004.
The club is now up for sale, and is currently under the hammer in a bidding process.
Abramovich has pledged to write off Chelsea’s £1.5billion debt and the bidding frenzy for the club could see the eventual deal hit £3billion.
The Russian billionaire made his fortune buying up discounted state assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and owns billions of pounds if assets in the UK.
In the past month he has been hit by a string of sanctions in the U.K. and E.U. due to his close relationship with Putin, and scrambled to divest before the asset freeze hit.
According to Polish media, a spokesman for Abramovich said: ‘Relying on requests, including from Jewish organisations in Ukraine, he is doing everything possible to support efforts to restore peace as soon as possible.’
This comment from his representatives could not be immediately verified.
The MailOnline has requested a comment from Abramovich’s representatives.
Yesterday, Dmitry Peskov – Putin’s spokesman – confirmed Abramovich was in attendance during early peace talks – but added that he is no longer attending the summits which are being left to diplomatic teams from the warring nations.
‘He did take part at the initial stage,’ Peskov said Thursday. ‘Now the negotiations are between the two teams, the Russians and Ukrainians.’
Peskov spoke out after it was revealed that President Volodymyr Zelensky had asked Joe Biden not to follow UK and EU sanctions on Abramovich because he might prove ‘useful’ as an intermediary in talks.
Biden then pressured the U.S. Treasury Department to hold off on sanctions on oligarch, which has not yet followed Britain and Europe in seizing his assets and banning him from travel.
Abramovich’s Gulfstream – like the one pictured here – is valued at about $65 million and is effectively barred from international travel, according to the Department of Commerce
Pictured: US President Joe Biden meets with the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda on March 25, 2022 in Rzeszow, Poland
The revelations explain how one of the world’s richest men has avoided U.S. sanctions even as the United Kingdom and European Union hit him with travel bans and asset freezes.
Sources familiar with calls told the Wall Street Journal, that Biden consulted Zelensky on a range of sanctions, including on Abramovich.
The White House declined to comment.
‘We are not going to read out private conversations between President Biden and President Zelensky,’ said Emily Horne, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
The Treasury Department also did not respond to a request for comment.
‘For the negotiations, and in the interest of them succeeding, it is not helpful commenting on the process nor on Abramovich’s involvement,’ said his spokesperson.
‘As previously stated, based on requests, including from Jewish organizations in Ukraine, he has been doing all he can to support efforts aimed at restoring peace as soon as possible.’
After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the UK imposed sanctions on Abramovich, who has been the owner of Chelsea for almost 20 years since buying the West London football club in 2004
The billionaire’s superyacht Solaris was seen off Tivat, Montenegro, at the start of last week, but amid a seizure threat arrived in Turkey
Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale, and staff are said to have been ready for viewings at his 15-bedroom $195 million (£150m) mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, London, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront.
Abramovich himself was most recently believed to be in Moscow, having travelled there from Israel, where he has nationality.
He quickly came under scrutiny by the Treasury Department as Russia invaded Ukraine almost a month ago, according to a person familiar with the issue, and his holdings were analysed.
But it proceeded cautiously for fear that sanctions could affect global steel prices, given that he holds a stake in Evraz PLC which has steel plants in Oregon and Colorado.
At the same time Ukrainian officials were tapping up anyone with Russian contacts who might be able to act as an intermediary with Putin. That reportedly included film producer Alexander Rodnyansky who in turn contacted Abramovich.
But his involvement is viewed with scepticism in some quarters.
‘A lot of people claiming to be helping have their own financial or geopolitical interests at stake,’ said a western diplomatic source.
U.S. lawmakers have called for Washington to add its weight to the pressure on Abramovich.
Abramovich made his fortune buying up discounted state assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was one of the oligarchs that make up Russia’s wealthy elite. The West has imposed sanctions on them in an attempt to put pressure on Vladimir Putin
‘We request that Abramovich be sanctioned as a matter of urgency,’ wrote members of Congress, including Rep. Tom Malinowski, co-chairman of the Congressional Counter-Kleptocracy Caucus.
‘His blood money helps fuel Putin’s unprovoked and illegal war against Ukraine.’
It came after investigators at State Street bank in Boston claimed that more than a billion dollars of his in cash had been funneled through offshore companies into the US from 2001 to 2016, BuzzFeed News reported.
And last week, the administration did make a move, effectively barring one of Abramovich’s private jets from making international flights.
His $65 million Gulfstream G650 was on a list of 100 aircraft operated by Russian passenger and cargo carriers such as Aeroflot, AirBridge Cargo, Utair, Nordwind, Azur Air and Aviastar-TU.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimando said: ‘Today, the Department of Commerce is demonstrating the power and reach of the actions we took over the past few weeks in response to Russia’s brutal war of choice against Ukraine.’
‘We are publishing this list to put the world on notice – we will not allow Russian and Belarusian companies and oligarchs to travel with impunity in violation of our laws.’
Flight tracking data suggested the Gulfstream plane arrived back in Moscow last Tuesday, although on Friday it appeared to show the plane was in Luxembourg.
Abramovich’s super yachts have also been on the move – fleeing European waters for areas were they are less likely to be touched by sanctions.
My Solaris, worth $560 million, was moored in Barcelona two weeks ago and the Eclipse, worth $704 million was in the British Virgin Islands but both have since arrived in Turkish ports.
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