Zelensky and Abramovich’s meeting: why did the Russian oligarch come to Kyiv?
фото: Reuters
The recent visit of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to Kyiv, officially confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, cannot be the beginning of a real peace process.
This opinion was expressed on the air of “Pryamoy” by investment banker Serhiy Fursa.
He is convinced that the public disclosure of this meeting was a result of Putin being offended by Zelensky’s letter, but any mediation by business elites currently has no practical meaning due to Moscow’s position.
According to Fursa, although representatives of big Russian business understand the difficult situation of their own financial system perfectly well, they have no real influence. “There is no real prospect of a collapse. Well, there is no imminent collapse of the Russian economy,” the investment banker emphasized.
He added that the situation in the country is deteriorating very gradually, which allows Putin to believe that there is time to continue the fighting. The stagnation of the Russian economy is significantly slowed down by high world oil prices, as well as events in Iran, so the security forces are completely ignoring the discomfort of the commercial sector and continuing the war, – explains Sergey Fursa.
Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly confirmed that Russian businessman Roman Abramovich visited Kyiv after the start of the full-scale war and offered to act as a mediator in contacts with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky said that Abramovich arrived in the Ukrainian capital and announced his intention to convey a message from Putin to him, as well as “to convey Kyiv’s position to the Russian president.” According to the head of state, the businessman insisted that “such contacts take place without public publicity.”
Recall that after the start of the full-scale invasion, Abramovich was repeatedly mentioned in media reports as an unofficial participant in contacts between Ukraine and Russia. The businessman is under sanctions by a number of Western countries due to his ties to the Kremlin.
As Radio Liberty reports , Western media previously learned that at the end of May 2026, Volodymyr Zelenskyy transmitted a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin through Roman Abramovich.
According to journalists, the Ukrainian leader expressed his willingness to meet at a bilateral summit, which could be the first such talks in more than four years since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. In addition, two senior officials noted that the content of this message was similar to an open letter that later appeared on the website of the Office of the President.
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