Abramovich loses influence as mediator between Ukraine and Russia, WSJ report says
Roman Abramovich (Photo:REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko)
While Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich remains a mediator
between Ukraine and Russia, he now deals only with negotiations regarding POW
exchanges and grain exports from Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on
Jan. 26.
Ukrainian, U.S., and European officials say they no longer
expect that Abramovich “could play a key role in brokering dialogue in the war.”
WSJ’s Kremlin-adjacent sources claim Abramovich remains an
acceptable middleman for Ukraine and its allies, as well as for Russian
dictator Putin. The sources say the oligarch has personally met with Putin and
has spoken to him on the phone several times since the beginning of the
full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He also has direct contact with Putin's chief
of staff, Anton Vaino.
“Mr. Abramovich takes the Ukrainian point of view directly
to Mr. Putin, according to the people, and then conveys the Kremlin’s views
directly to Kyiv,” the article says.
“He helps with smaller prisoner exchanges every few weeks.”
Adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President's Office,
Mykhailo Podolyak, said that Abramovich's role could be useful “if there’s a
need to get involved in some issues.”
“But it’s not the mediator role he had in the first rounds
of the negotiation process (in spring 2022),” added Podolyak.
According to WSJ, Abramovich's role as a mediator began with
a late-night phone call from his acquaintance, movie director Alexander
Rodnyansky, who said that Ukraine needed someone to “tell Putin the truth and
make him stop the fighting.” Abramovich agreed to try.
The report states that the oligarch's motives are often
questioned by Western officials, who see his actions as “a naked attempt to get
(personal) sanctions lifted.”
The article also says that currently Abramovich focused
mainly on issues related to the war, travelling between Sochi, Istanbul, and
Tel Aviv, while his yachts stay in Turkish waters, where they are “safe from
the seizures” by law enforcement.
Ukraine imposed sanctions against 256 Russian businessmen
and their relatives on Oct. 20, 2022, including against Abramovich. He is the
only one on whom sanctions are imposed with the condition that they will come
in force only after the procedures on POW exchange between Ukraine and Russia
are complete.
At the end of March 2022, Podolyak, said that Abramovich is
an “extremely effective mediator” in the negotiations and helps to “partially
moderate the process.” In April 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed
that Abramovich was part of the Russian negotiating team and had visited Kyiv.
Financial Times’ sources stated that Russian dictator
Vladimir Putin personally approved Abramovich's participation in the peace
talks between Russia and Ukraine. WSJ later wrote that Zelenskyy asked his U.S.
counterpart Joe Biden not to impose sanctions on the Russian oligarch – because
of his role as a middle man in the negotiations.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
