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image source, Archyde.com
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning during peace talks in kyiv earlier this month, sources close to the businessman say.
According to reports, the owner of English soccer club Chelsea, who has since recovered, suffered pain in the eyes and dskin scaling.
It was also said that two Ukrainian peace negotiators were affected.
the american daily The Wall Street Journal reported that the suspected poisoning was orchestrated by hardliners in Russia who wanted to sabotage the peace talks.
Sources quoted by the newspaper assured that the conditions of Abramovich and the Ukrainian negotiators, including parliamentarian Rustem Umerov, had improved since the incident of March 3.
On Monday, Umerov tweeted that he is “fine” and urged people not to trust “unverified information.”
The incident sheds light on Abramovich’s alleged role as an intermediary in the Ukrainian-Russian talks. The exact nature of his position is unclear, but a spokesman for the oligarch has previously said that his influence is “limited”.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Abramovich had offered him help in de-escalating Russia’s invasion of the country.
The Russian billionaire traveled from Moscow to kyiv for several rounds of talks earlier this month. According to some reports, Abramovich met with President Zelensky during the trip, but the Ukrainian leader did not show symptoms and his spokeswoman said she had no information regarding the incident.
The investigative journalism group Bellingcat said that Abramovich and the negotiators suffered symptoms “consistent with poisoning by substances chemicals “.
Symptoms included “inflammation of the eyes and skin and piercing pain in the eyes,” Bellingcat reported.
Meanwhile, the Archyde.com news agency quoted an unnamed US official as saying intelligence data suggested the men’s illness was due to “environmental” factors, not poisoning.
Since then, Abramovich has been seen in public. He was photographed at the Israeli Tel Aviv airport on March 14.
image source, Archyde.com
Abramovic was seen at Tel Aviv airport following the alleged poisoning
Abramovich was sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom earlier this month for his alleged links to the Russian president. Vladimir Putinsomething that he denies.
However, Zelensky had reportedly asked the US to refrain from sanctioning Abramovich, arguing that he might play a role in brokering a peace deal with Moscow.
The Kremlin has said that Abramovich played a role initial in the peace talksbut the process was now in the hands of the negotiating teams of the two countries.
The two sides will meet in Istanbul on Tuesday for their first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks.
Analysis by Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent
On the night of March 3, Roman Abramovich and the Ukrainian peace negotiators met in kyiv, right in the heart of Ukrainian territory. What happened next is very mysterious.
Later that night, three of them, according to the investigative website Bellingcat, suffered symptoms of nerve agent poisoning.
They had swollen skin, red eyes, and severe pain behind their eyes, symptoms that lasted through the night.
None of them had eaten anything, according to Bellingcat, other than chocolate and water.
Chemical specialists reviewed this case and concluded that they believe it was intentional.
But we have no idea who did it. There is no claim of liability.
Inevitably, people will wonder if this was the work of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence service. Britain concluded that the GRU had been responsible for the novichok poisoning in Salisbury in 2018.
Silence reigns in Russia and there is no evidence to point to a culprit.
Apparently someone wanted to send a warning to those involved in the peace talks. This was not a lethal dose, but a warning.
The suggestion made by an anonymous US official that environmental factors were to blame is strange.
No one else was affected by these very serious medical conditions, which Bellingcat researchers concluded were the result of the intentional use of a chemical agent.
It would be little surprise if the US wanted to reject suggestions that someone, especially Russia, has used a chemical agent in Ukraine, as this might push them into having to retaliate that they have been so reluctant to do.
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