 A handwritten peace offer forwarded by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy enraged Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Tell him I will thrash them,” Putin reportedly replied when Russian oligarch and unofficial peacemaker Roman Abramovich gave President Vladimir Putin a handwritten note from Ukrainian President Zelensky.
According to a report in The Times, the handwritten paper outlined Ukraine’s conditions for stopping the war. Earlier this month, sanctioned Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich agreed to assist Ukraine in peace talks to resolve the conflict that began on February 24.
Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is said to have been hopping between Istanbul, Moscow, and Kyiv to transmit signals from one president to the next.
Has Abramovich been poisoned?
As per the reports in The Wall Street Journal on Monday that Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators experienced signs of possible poisoning following a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city, earlier this month.
The symptoms included burning eyes and peeling skin on their faces and hands, according to the report.
However, the report mentioned, Abramovich’s and the Ukrainian negotiators’ health has improved and they are no longer in danger.
Talks between Putin and Zelenskyy
In the meantime, the first face-to-face negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are scheduled for Tuesday in Turkey. According to a Reuters article, Ukraine’s top priority is to establish a truce, although both Ukraine and the US are skeptical of a big breakthrough.
“Humanitarian issues would be the minimum agenda, and securing an agreement on a ceasefire will be the maximum program,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated. “We are not exchanging people, territory, or sovereignty.”
Latest developments in the war
Since the invasion began, at least 5,000 people have died in the besieged city of Mariupol, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s interior minister announced that Ukrainian soldiers have “liberated” the Kyiv suburb of Irpin. Russian airstrikes near Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, have knocked out power to over 80,000 homes, according to officials.
The Russian invasion, which began on February 24, resulted in the emigration of over 3.5 million Ukrainians to other countries. The war has claimed the lives of several people, including children, as well as many soldiers from both sides.
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Published by:Â Shivani Bhalke
Edited by:Â Subbuthai Padma
