Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators developed symptoms of poisoning after they met for peace talks in Kyiv over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, 28 March, citing sources.
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov weighed in on the matter, shrugging off the reports by saying that Abramovich had suffered symptoms consistent with poisoning during an informal round of talks earlier this month, The Guardian reported.
He said the reports were “part of the information war”. "This is part of the information panic, part of the information sabotage, information war," he was quoted as saying.
As per the initial report, Chelsea football club owner Abramovich and two senior negotiators of Ukraine, developed symptoms like red eyes, painful tearing, and skin peeling on their hands and faces, after attending talks in Kyiv.
As per investigative journalism group Bellingcat, "Three members of the negotiating team retreated to an apartment in Kyiv later that night (3 March) and felt initial symptoms – including eye and skin inflammation and piercing pain in the eyes – later that night. The symptoms did not abate until the morning. The next day the group of negotiators drove from Kyiv to Lviv on the way to Poland and then to Istanbul, to continue informal negotiations with the Russian side."
The report comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Russian reporters that Roman Abramovich has been trying to help Ukraine amid Russia's invasion of the country, participating in negotiations from the Russian side.
Several Theories
Based on remote and on-site examinations, the experts concluded that the symptoms are most likely the result of international poisoning with an undefined chemical weapon, or, in a less likely scenario, the use of microwave irradiation, reported Bellingcat.
On the other hand, a United States official who wished to remain anonymous said that "environmental" reasons had caused the illness of Abramovich and the peace negotiators, "not poisoning", Reuters reported.
Ukrainian officials also played down allegations of suspected poisoning. Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian negotiator, said that there were lots of conspiracy theories and speculation doing the rounds. Another negotiator named Rustem Umerov asked people to not believe in "unverified information", reported Reuters.
Several rounds of talks have been held between the two nations since Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, but without yielding any significant breakthroughs.
The Kremlin has indicated that further peace talks between Russia and Ukraine may take place in Turkey on Tuesday.
(With inputs from The Wall Street Journal, Bellingcat, The Guardian and Reuters.)
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