Former owner of Chelsea Football Club, russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, visited Kyiv in May at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing “four informed sources”, according to Lb.ua.
It is noted that Abramovich was supposed to convince russian dictator of the need for a bilateral meeting with Zelensky.
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited former Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich to Kyiv last month in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade putin to hold direct peace talks”, - the publication writes.
According to the sources, Zelensky asked Abramovich to convey a message to putin about his willingness to meet.
The Financial Times notes that in this way Ukraine wanted to demonstrate its seriousness regarding direct peace negotiations with russia — even though the United States, which had previously acted as a mediator, has now shifted its focus to the situation in the Middle East.
Kyiv hoped that a series of successful strikes on russian territory, particularly against oil-refining facilities, as well as the halt of the russian offensive achieved by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, would strengthen the “incentive for an immediate ceasefire”. However, putin showed no interest in meeting with Zelensky, apparently continuing to rely on russia’s resource advantage.
On June 5, during the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, putin stated that he had allegedly met with a russian businessman on May 21 and told him that he saw no point in meeting with Zelensky. At the same time, putin did not name the businessman, noting only that he had been “acting unofficially”.