Roman Abramovich has not been sanctioned by the USA as the Ukrainian president has informed them he is helping broker peace talks with Russia.
Abramovich is, by some distance, the most high-profile Russian oligarch to have been sanctioned since Russia invaded Ukraine. The unprecedented fallout in SW6 has been making the headlines daily, with Chelsea’s ownership situation still very much unresolved.
The UK government have made it clear that Abramovich’s association with Russian president Vladimir Putin means that he cannot have any presence or influence on these shores, but his friendship with Putin might not be such a bad thing from Ukraine’s perspective.
According to a report published by WSJ today, the sole reason that the U.S haven’t imposed sanctions on Abramovich is that he is playing his part in the dialogue between Ukraine and Russia in a bid to broker peace between the two nations, or so claims President Zelensky.
That’s not to say that the UK government were wrong to take action against Abramovich, but the wording of the report suggests that they have done so against Zelensky’s wishes, which must have Chelsea fans wondering if all the subsequent trouble was really justified.
