Roman Abramovich suffered ‘suspected poisoning’ at talks

Roman Abramovich suffered ‘suspected poisoning’ at talks

Roman Abramovich is reported to have suffered from the effects of suspected poisoning at peace talks earlier this month.

Two Ukrainian peace negotiators are also reported to have suffered from the same effects.

Although the three have now recovered, sources said they suffered from sore eyes and peeling skin.

One report in the Wall Street Journal said the alleged poisoning was orchestrated by Russian hardliners who wanted to sabotage the talks.

An unnamed US official was quoted by Reuters as saying that intelligence suggested the men’s symptoms were due to “environmental” factors, not poisoning.

Later an official in the Ukrainian president’s office, Ihor Zhovkva, told the BBC that while he hadn’t spoken to Mr Abramovich, members of the Ukrainian delegation were “fine” and one had said the story was “false”.

However, it could be suggested that the US would want to dampen down suggestions that anyone – especially Russia – had used a chemical weapon in Ukraine, as this could push them into retaliatory action.

Mr Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government and the EU earlier this month over links to President Putin- links which he deniers.

He has been helping negotiate with Russia in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, with Ukrainian prime minister Zelensky asking the US not to sanction Mr Abramovich as he could be influential in peace talks.

The two sides are set to meet in Istanbul on Tuesday for their first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks.