Author of the article: Date of publication: March 28, 2022 • 14 hours ago • 1 minute reading • 78 comments Russian billionaire and owner of the Chelsea football team Roman Roman Abramovich arrives at a section of the Supreme Court in central London, October 31, 2011. Photo by Andrew Winning / Reuters
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Sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kyiv, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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Abramovich, who accepted a Ukrainian request to help negotiate an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian group were affected, the WSJ report said. Their symptoms included red eyes, constant and painful tearing and peeling of the skin on their faces and hands, the WSJ report added. Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators, including Crimean Tatar MP Rustem Umerov, have improved since then and their lives are not in danger, the WSJ reported. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the incident to Reuters, but said Abramovich did not allow him to stop working.
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The Kremlin said Abramovich had played a role in early peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, but the process is now in the hands of negotiating teams on both sides. Sanctions have already been imposed by Canada, the EU and the United Kingdom Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what President Vladimir Putin calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “disarm” Ukraine. Ukraine and the West say Putin has launched an unprovoked offensive war. A U.S. official said Monday that reports suggest Abramovich and the Ukrainian negotiators’s disgust was due to an environmental factor, not poisoning. The US official told Reuters: “The information suggests that it was environmental,” adding: “For example, no poisoning.” The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to give further details.
