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 and the investigative outlet Bellingcat reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The billionaire businessman has been shuttling between Kyiv, Moscow, and other negotiation venues after receiving sanctions by Western nations aiming to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. According to the American tabloid, Abramovich and at least two senior Ukrainian negotiators had symptoms like hot eyes, excruciatingly wet eyes, and peeling skin on their face and hands during a conference in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian officials were skeptical about the reports. “There is a lot of speculation, various conspiracy theories,” Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said when asked about the possible poisoning. Another member of the negotiation team, Rustem Umerov, cautioned people not to believe “unverified information.”
Russian billionaire may help negotiate a peace accord with Moscow
The conditions of Abramovich and the other negotiators have improved and their lives are not in danger, the report said. “It was not intended to kill. It was just a warning,” Christo Grozev, an investigator with open-source collective Bellingcat, said. Citing the experts, Bellingcat said the dosage and type of toxin used were not enough to be life-threatening, “and most likely was intended to scare the victims as opposed to cause permanent damage. The victims said they were not aware of who might have had an interest in an attack.”
Western countries, particularly the United States and the European Union have levied extraordinary sanctions against Russia. It is in response to its invasion of Ukraine, including sanctioning oligarchs and other close associates of Putin. According to the Wall Street Journal, Zelensky persuaded US President Joe Biden to delay penalizing Abramovich; because the Russian billionaire may help negotiate a peace accord with Moscow.
According to the Kremlin, Abramovich played an initial part in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks. However, the process is now in the hands of the two sides’ negotiating teams. On Tuesday, the two sides will meet in Istanbul. This is for the first time in more than two weeks for face-to-face peace negotiations.