Sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has traveled to Kyiv to try to resume peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a report just days after another $ 7 billion of his assets were frozen.
Abramovich met with representatives of the Ukrainian government to try to revive talks, which were halted after Russia’s retreat from Kyiv revealed evidence of atrocities against civilians, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday.
The Russian billionaire – whose ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin date back to the 1990s – began acting as an informal mediator in the war in late February, attending a round of face-to-face meetings in Istanbul, Turkey that ended in March 29
But there have been few encouraging signs since then of a peaceful end to the crisis that began when Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 – and international pressure on Abramovich and other members of Russia’s elite has only intensified.
The Norman island of Jersey, a well-known tax haven with a reputation for attracting foreign investors, last week became one of the last entities to target the oligarch’s fortune, freezing $ 7 billion in assets.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich (left) previously attended peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey on March 29, 2022. Cem Yozdel / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The French government has also confiscated 12 residences owned by the billionaire in recent days, including a $ 120 million historic home on the lavish French Riviera that houses King Edward VIII after he abdicated from the British throne to marry divorced Wallis. The Simpsons in 1936
A fleet of five Abramovich superyacht ships – including Solaris for $ 600 million and Eclipse for $ 700 million – have been evading European ports for weeks to keep ships out of government hands, and the former oil baron has gone begging in Hollywood for power. friends brokers to help pay his bills, reported The Post.
Roman Abramovich’s assets worth approximately $ 7 billion were frozen on the Channel Islands of Jersey. Jem Ozdel / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A Abramovich spokesman told Bloomberg News that the oligarch was not in Kyiv, but declined to comment further.
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