BBC News 29 March 2022
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has appeared at peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey.
He was seen talking to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is mediating in the talks in Istanbul.
Mr Abramovich is known to have spent weeks in a mediation role, flying between Moscow and Kyiv.
The Chelsea football club owner was said to have suffered sore eyes and peeling skin, but had now recovered, reports say.
A Wall Street Journal report suggested he and the Ukrainian negotiators had been targeted by Russian hardliners in Kyiv on 3 March, but a Ukrainian presidential official later said the two Ukrainians were fine and one had said the story was false.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov poured scorn on the report on Tuesday as untrue and part of an "information war".
Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, however, told national TV hours before the talks that he had advised his colleagues attending negotiations with Russia not to eat or drink anything.
The talks in Istanbul got under way early on Tuesday, with President Erdogan opening the session calling for a ceasefire and peace: "Prolonging the conflict is not in anyone's interest," he told the two delegations at Dolmabahce Palace, urging them to come up with concrete results.
Before the talks began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was prepared to declare neutrality, one of Russia's key demands. However, one of his main negotiators, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, made clear he had instructions that "we do not trade people, land or sovereignty".
Russian state news agency Ria Novosti released a picture showing Mr Abramovich talking to the Turkish president and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the meeting.
He was also spotted in Turkish TV coverage listening to a translation wearing headphones, sitting alongside Mr Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin. They were not at the main table of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
The exact nature of Mr Abramovich's role in the talks is unclear.
The Kremlin spokesman stressed he was not an official member of the Russian delegation in Istanbul but had been involved in ensuring contacts between the two delegations.
The businessman's yacht Eclipse has been seen moored at the Turkish port of Marmaris in recent days.
He put Chelsea up for sale earlier this month after the UK government sanctioned him and several other so-called oligarchs from Russia, who made their fortunes in the 1990s.
Mr Abramovich, who has Israeli citizenship, reportedly flew from Tel Aviv to Moscow by private jet on 14 March, 11 days after the alleged incident in Kyiv.
