Zelensky Conveys Willingness for Talks to Putin Through Abramovich

There have been reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conveyed his willingness to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin through Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

EPA Yonhap News

The Financial Times (FT) of the UK reported on the 7th (local time), citing sources, that President Zelensky invited Abramovich to Kyiv last month. During this meeting, President Zelensky reportedly asked Abramovich to deliver a message to President Putin, stating that he was ready to engage in a bilateral summit with Russia.

Abramovich passed on the message to President Putin, but Russia's response appears to have been negative. President Putin stated that he met with a Russian business figure who had visited Kyiv on the 21st of last month, and indicated that a meeting with President Zelensky would be meaningless.

Separately, on the 4th, President Zelensky sent an open letter to President Putin, proposing peace negotiations through a summit. A senior Ukrainian official explained that the message delivered by Abramovich was similar in content to the open letter, but the tone was relatively less strong.

In the open letter, President Zelensky referred to President Putin's extended rule and advanced age, using language intended to exert pressure. In response, President Putin rejected the proposal for talks, saying that meeting with President Zelensky would be pointless. He also objected, claiming that the letter contained rude expressions.

Abramovich is a Russian oligarch who amassed vast wealth in the energy and steel industries following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. He is known to be close to President Putin, and has been the target of Western sanctions since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Under political pressure in the UK, he also sold the Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.