In early March, US Treasury Department officials drafted a series of sanctions to punish one of Russia’s top oligarchs, Roman Abramovich, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But when it came time to announce those sanctions, which were to be imposed in conjunction with the UK and EU sanctions, the White House National Security Council told the Treasury Department to wait. The Wall Street Journal reveals the reason: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj advised President Biden in a telephone call to wait before sanctioning the oligarch, who could prove to be an important mediator for Russia in peace negotiations.
President Biden had consulted with the President of Ukraine on a range of sanctions, including those planned against Abramovich. The UK and EU, which sanctioned Abramovich earlier this month for his ties to Putin, have not followed suit and have frozen his assets in their jurisdictions. Several British and European officials said they were unaware that President Zelenskyy had specifically urged their leaders not to impose sanctions on the former Chelsea president. But in reality, several Ukrainian officials and officials from other Western governments are very skeptical about Abramovich’s real involvement in the peace talks.
Abramovich was the only oligarch who said publicly that he was trying to press Moscow to resolve the conflict peacefully. Even US officials speaking to the Wall Street Journal pointed out that they have no reason to believe Abramovich was particularly helpful in talks between warring governments, and intelligence analysis has actually suggested otherwise. However, people close to him say that he dedicates a lot of time to a peace process.
