Roman Abramovich is reportedly trying to revive peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, days after $7 billion of assets with suspected ties to the oligarch were frozen

Putin, Abramovich, Zelenskyy — Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP, Mason/Getty Images, Laurent Van der Stockt for Le Monde/Getty Images

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is trying to revive peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
Discussions had stalled in light of evidence of Russians waging atrocities against Ukrainian civilians.
Abramovich has been heavily sanctioned during the war, including Jersey freezing another $7 billion of assets believed to be linked to him just days ago.

Roman Abramovich is reportedly trying to revive peace talks between Russia and Ukraine after discussions stalled.

The Russian oligarch and ally of President Vladimir Putin visited Kyiv and spoke with Ukrainian negotiators about ways to resume peace talks, Bloomberg reported Saturday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

A spokesperson for Abramovich told Bloomberg he's not in Kyiv but declined to comment further.

Peace talks between the countries recently stalled after evidence of Russian atrocities targeting civilians in Ukraine came to light. Last week, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said there are at least 5,600 cases of alleged war crimes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine. Meanwhile, US officials including President Joe Biden have also said Russia's attacks on Ukraine amount to genocide, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that the US has seen "numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians, as well as other atrocities."

When it comes to orchestrating peace talks, Abramovich has no small stake in the matter.

The billionaire, along with other Russian oligarchs, has been placed on several sanctions lists due to his ties to Putin, prompting massive asset seizures. Just days ago, the Royal Court of the Island of Jersey froze more than $7 billion in assets believed to be linked to Abramovich.

France also reportedly seized a dozen properties belonging to Abramovich, including a $98 million château.

Experts say he's trying to facilitate peace talks to fast track the unfreezing of his assets in an effort to save his business empire.

"He's absolutely devastated by blows to his international business empire and assets that were delivered by sanctions and he also does not support the war," Vladimir Milov, Russia's former deputy energy minister, told Insider earlier this month.

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