Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.Getty/Peter Macdiarmid
Abramovich gave Putin a note from Zelenskyy outlining how the war might end, The Times of London reported.
But Putin responded to the handwritten note by saying, “Tell him I’ll beat her up,” the report says.
Abramovich took part in peace talks. Little progress has been made in these talks so far.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a handwritten note from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for peace, but Putin rejected it, The Times of London reported.
Abramovich met with Putin in Moscow earlier this month, where he was handed Zelensky’s note to give to Putin, The Times reported. Abramovich was involved in the peace talks, and Zelenskyy said that Abramovich tried to help.
According to the report, the note laid out the terms Zelenskyy would accept to end the war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
But Putin wasn’t convinced, saying, “Tell him I’ll beat her up,” the Times reported.
On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators were developing symptoms consistent with a poisoning attack in early March.
The investigative news agency Bellingcat at the time reported that it “confirmed that three members of the delegation who attended the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on the night of March 3-4, 2022 showed symptoms consistent with chemical weapons poisoning.”
Abramovich was seen Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey for the latest round of peace talks.
Representatives of both countries have met several times since the beginning of the war, but made little progress.
Zelenskyy said Sunday Russian businessmen had offered to help Ukraine, wanting to avoid Western sanctions over the invasion.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Zelenskyy asked the US not to sanction Abramovich because he could help in peace talks, and the US Treasury Department subsequently halted plans to do so.
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