Zelensky says he met Roman Abramovich in Kyiv, who offered to serve as mediator with Putin

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian magnate Roman Abramovich met him in Kyiv and offered to take a message to the Kremlin on peace prospects, but the Ukrainian leader reiterated that his government would not abandon its Donbas region.

Zelensky’s comments to Sky News while holding talks in London mark his first acknowledgement that the billionaire had traveled to Ukraine’s capital and was involved to some extent in negotiations.

“He came to Kyiv. He said ‘I am messaging direct to you. And I want to take a message from you and give it to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.’ But he said it has to be silent without any kind of public messages,” Zelensky says.

Zelensky says the meeting was “not a secret,” adding that the Russians wanted to know what Kyiv was “ready to do.”

“I said the question is not about us. You are fighting against us on our territory. I said to him about Donbas and it was the key message. I said we will not leave and we will not go out from our territory. No, we will not give you a victory in such way. And you will not get it.”

Abramovich, the Jewish former owner of Chelsea Football Club, is subject to sanctions imposed on Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He played an important role in unsuccessful negotiations to end the fighting in the first weeks of the invasion and in a deal to ensure Black Sea grain shipments, but has been less visible since.