Roman Abramovich is acting as a “peacemaker” in the Russian war in Ukraine as he avoids Western sanctions in Turkey.
The Chelsea FC owner has reportedly jetted between Istanbul, Moscow and Kyiv to relay messages between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, when he was handed a note from Ukraine’s president detailing the peace terms, the Russian despot reportedly erupted in anger.
Abramovich has sought to salvage his reputation after being sanctioned by Britain and the EU for his close ties to Putin.
His assets were frozen across Britain and the continent and he launched a fire sale of London properties and Chelsea football club.
But its yachts and jets, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, remain banned as they dodge sanctioned waters and airspace.
Meanwhile, Zelensky reportedly asked President Joe Biden that the US stop taking action against the oligarch because of his role in the negotiations.
Roman Abramovich (left) and producer Alexander Rodnyanski (right) attend a RuArts Foundation cocktail party in Sochi, Russia, in 2017
The Chelsea FC owner has jetted between Istanbul, Moscow and Kyiv to relay messages between Vladimir Putin (pictured) and Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Zelensky (pictured) reportedly asked President Joe Biden that the US stop taking action against the oligarch because of his role in the negotiations
Abramovich departed Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport last Wednesday in a private Hawker 800XP jet and flew across the Black Sea bound for Sochi.
The flight tracker went dark near the town of Mineralnye Vody, and the plane later surfaced, departing Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport and returning to the Turkish capital.
The oligarch flew in to meet Putin and hand him a handwritten note from Zelenskyy outlining Ukraine’s position on peace terms.
According to the Times, the Russian president said to the oligarch, “Tell him I’ll beat her up.”
He returned to Istanbul and linked up with Ukrainian politician Rustem Umerov, who is set to serve as Kyiv’s chief negotiator.
They met at five-star hotels in the Turkish capital that had been set up by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.
And they appear to be making progress on future face-to-face talks, which are set to resume this week.
Kalin told the Hurriyet newspaper last weekend they were “close to an agreement” on key issues of NATO, demilitarization and the protected status of the Russian language.
But there are still disagreements over the future of Crimea – which Russia annexed in 2014 – and Donbass, which has been largely occupied during the current conflict.
Oligarch Abramovich is pictured March 14 at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel
Abramovich is pictured to Putin’s left at a meeting with a top businessman in Sochi in 2016
Abramovich’s luxurious lifestyle is being pressured by EU and UK sanctions – and now the US has taken steps to stop his Gulfstream plane from operating international flights
Kalin popularized the idea that Crimea and Donbass should be held by Moscow under a long-term lease, like Britain had over Hong Kong from 1898 to 1997.
Putin is believed to be considering the idea, but his anger at his military’s failures and his hatred of Zelenskyi are said to hold him back.
Abramovich and Umerov have visited Ukraine’s president in war-torn Kyiv after traveling through Warsaw, Poland, on private jets.
The businessman has flown on a plane owned by a Turkish company as he is under EU sanctions.
He is one of at least 20 oligarchs in Turkey standing on the border between Putin and Western restrictions.
He has moored two of his yachts in Bodrum on the southwest coast, despite the presence of Ukrainian protesters.
Turkey did not sanction Abramovich and apparently allowed him to help in negotiations surrounding the war.
Insiders said he was determined to end the war after seeing the horrors in Ukraine, where his mother Irina was born.
Meanwhile, further negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers were taking place in Turkey.
Sergei Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba met in Antalya on March 10, with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu chairing the talks, which ultimately fell through.
Abramovich’s Gulfstream — like the one pictured here — is valued at about $65 million and is virtually barred from international travel, according to the Commerce Department
Earlier this month he also met with ex-German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to try to make peace with Putin.
According to several sources, they met in one of the Russian capital’s luxury hotels, where the former prime minister was staying.
The billionaire oligarch went in and out through a side door to avoid being spotted, according to German newspaper Bild.
The meeting is said to have taken place in the same suite where Schröder’s wife Soyeon Schröder-Kim prayed for peace with the Kremlin on Instagram.
The talks lasted “several hours,” and Schröder reportedly met with Putin in the Kremlin later that evening.
No further details were released, but Reuters said an insider told them the oligarch wanted to find a way to end the conflict.
Abramovich, a Russian-Portuguese-Israeli billionaire, was close to the Kremlin during the reign of Boris Yeltsin.
Schröder’s wife Soyeon Schröder-Kim posted a picture on Instagram of her praying for peace with the Kremlin in the background. It is believed that Roman met her husband here (directly with Putin)
He is said to have been the first to propose Yeltsin as Putin’s successor.
During Putin’s tenure, Abramovich served as governor of the Chukchi Autonomous Okrug for eight years.
Following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Britain imposed sanctions on Abramovich, who has owned Chelsea for almost 20 years since buying the club in 2004.
The west London team are now up for sale and are currently in the bidding process under the hammer.
Abramovich has pledged to write off Chelsea’s £1.5billion debt and the club’s bidding frenzy could see the final deal hit £3billion.
The Russian billionaire made his fortune buying up discounted state assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union and owns billions of dollars in assets in the UK.
Last month he was hit by a spate of sanctions in the UK and EU over his close relationship with Putin and scrambles to divest before the asset freeze hits.