According to the Financial Times on June 7, Zelensky invited Abramovich to Kyiv last month and asked him to communicate the summit proposal to President Putin. Citing four sources, the FT reported that Zelensky sent a message indicating he was prepared for direct peace negotiations with Russia.
Abramovich is said to have relayed the message to President Putin. However, Putin met with a Russian business figure who had visited Kyiv last month and responded that meeting with Zelensky would be pointless, indicating that the proposal for a summit was not accepted.
Separately, on June 4, Zelensky sent an open letter to President Putin proposing a ceasefire negotiation through a summit. A senior Ukrainian official noted that the message conveyed through Abramovich was similar to the open letter but was less confrontational in tone. Putin, however, rejected the summit proposal, stating that it contained “rude expressions.”
Abramovich has been involved in unofficial dialogue between Russia and Ukraine since the early days of the conflict. He participated in the Istanbul peace negotiations and the mediation of the Black Sea grain agreement in 2022, and has continued to engage in contacts between the two sides, including prisoner exchanges. Despite being subject to Western sanctions, he remains one of the few Russian figures acceptable to Ukraine for dialogue, thus being utilized again as a mediation channel.
However, Russia maintains a negative stance toward direct summits. President Putin has indicated that talks would be meaningless as long as Ukraine does not cease its military resistance.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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