Abramovich attends peace talks in Istanbul amid poisoning reports

ISTANBUL

Sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has attended peace negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Turkey just a day after it was claimed that the oligarch was poisoned at a previous meeting.

Abramovich, who was not at the table during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s opening speech, was seen sitting next to Presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın at the Dolmabahçe working office in Istanbul.

Russian news agencies also stated that Erdoğan and Abramovich had a short talk before the meeting.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian media agency RIA Novosti as saying that Abramovich’s participation in yesterday’s talks had been approved by both Moscow and Kiev.

The billionaire businessman, recently slapped with sanctions by Western nations seeking to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, has reportedly been shuttling between Kiev, Moscow and other negotiation sites.

Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators were targets of a suspected poison attack, potentially by Moscow hardliners seeking to sabotage peace talks, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 28.

After a meeting in Ukraine’s capital, Abramovich and at least two senior Ukrainian negotiators developed symptoms such as red eyes, painfully watery eyes and peeling skin on their face and hands, according to sources cited by the newspaper.