Roman Abramovich And Ukrainian Peace Negotiators Suffer Suspected Poisoning

title: “Roman Abramovich And Ukrainian Peace Negotiators Suffer Suspected Poisoning " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-01” author: “Alma Cunningham”

After the meeting in the Ukrainian capital, Mr. Abramovich, who traveled between Moscow, Lviv and other negotiating areas, and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian team showed symptoms that included red eyes, persistent and painful tears and peeling skin and facial skin. in their hands, people said. They blamed the suspected attack on hardliners in Moscow, who said they wanted to sabotage talks to end the war. A person close to Mr Abramovich said it was unclear who had targeted the group. Mr Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators, including Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov, have improved since then and their lives are not in danger, the people said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with Mr Abramovich, was unaffected, they said. Mr Zelensky’s spokesman said he had no information on suspected poisoning. Western experts who examined the incident said it was difficult to determine if the symptoms were caused by a chemical or biological agent or some kind of electromagnetic radiation attack, said people familiar with the matter. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the alleged poisoning. The investigation was led by Christo Grozev, a researcher with the Bellingcat open source team, who concluded that a Kremlin team had poisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent in 2020. Mr Grozev said he had seen the images his attack on Mr Abramovich and the Ukrainian negotiators, but that a timely collection of samples could not be arranged in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, through which they were traveling, because these people were in a hurry to travel to Istanbul. By the time a German forensic team with the required know-how was able to conduct an examination, it had been a long time since the suspected poison had been identified, he said. “It was not intended to kill, it was just a warning,” Mr Grozef said. In 2018, Britain blamed Russian intelligence services for a nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian officer who surrendered to the United Kingdom, and his daughter Yulia. Both survived, as did a British police officer who was hospitalized after coming into contact with the poison. A British woman later died after accidentally coming into contact with the nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the Skripal poisoning. Mr Abramovich, who has long-standing ties to President Vladimir Putin, was involved in efforts to end the war in Ukraine shortly after the start of the Moscow invasion on February 24, people familiar with the matter said. His efforts are sometimes combined and sometimes in parallel with a separate, formal, negotiating path between Ukrainian and Russian representatives, they said. The meeting in Kyiv, where the suspected poisoning took place, was attended by Mr. Abramovich, who is one of the richest men in Russia, and members of the official Ukrainian negotiating team. Mr Zelensky urged President Biden not to impose sanctions on Mr Abramovich, who holds a minority stake in the steel company Evraz PLC and holds Portuguese citizenship because he was involved in the negotiations, according to sources familiar with the matter. Mr Abramovich, who also owns the Chelsea football team, has been punished by the United Kingdom and the European Union. Asked about Mr Abramovich in an interview with independent Russian media on Sunday, Mr Zelensky said he would not comment on his discussions with Mr Biden. He said Mr Abramovich was initially a member of a subcommittee of the Russian negotiating team and then sought to help with humanitarian issues, particularly the evacuation of Ukrainian civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol. Mr Abramovich was seen in Belarus in late February as a starting point, formal talks began between Kiev and Moscow and served as a backbone for talks with the Kremlin, meeting personally with Mr Putin on Ukraine, say people familiar with the matter. His role in the talks fluctuates regularly and he has tried to involve others, including former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, these people said. Despite the suspected poisoning, Mr. Abramovich decided to continue participating in the peace talks, said a person close to him. He traveled to Poland and Ukraine last week and to Istanbul on Monday, the man said. People who have seen him recently say that he has spent a lot of time mediating between the warring parties. Mr Abramovich’s late mother was from Ukraine. The talks failed to gain much traction, as the war has reached a stalemate. Russia’s offensive has stopped on many fronts. And Ukraine, meanwhile, does not have the resources to launch a major counterattack to retake the occupied territories. A new round of talks is set for Tuesday in Turkey, with negotiators discussing both a possible political settlement to the war and immediate humanitarian issues, such as evacuating civilians from bombed-out cities and exchanging prisoners. Mr Zelensky has indicated that Ukraine is open to compromise, saying it would be willing to maintain a neutral status if it received binding security guarantees from both the West and Moscow. He rejected Moscow’s request to discuss the demilitarization of the country. Any agreement with Russia will have to be ratified in a referendum that will take place after all Russian forces have retired from their positions before February 24, he told Russian media on Sunday. While the Kremlin says it is interested in seeking a negotiated solution, presenters on popular Russian state television have said in recent days that any deal with Mr Zelensky would be a humiliation for Russia and said Ukraine should be absorbed by Russia. . condition. Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at [email protected] and to Max Colchester at [email protected] Copyright © 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8