Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been told to not eat or drink anything as well as avoid touching surfaces when he sits in on more peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey.
The 55-year-old is currently acting as an unofficial mediator in talks that are being held by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Reports on Monday emerged that Abramovich had been the victim of 'chemical warfare' poisoning. The billionaire has been spotted in Istanbul with Russian television showing him speaking to a woman with both parties trying to shield their faces once they realised they were on camera.
The Wall Street Journal has claimed that the poisoning attempt was down to Russian agents who wanted to disrupt the discussions. Abramovich is seemingly in a much better condition now, but after the suspected attack his symptoms were said to include "red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands."
It is claimed Abramovich fell victim to the poisoning while eating chocolate along with Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov in Kyiv earlier this month. It is for that reason he has been urged not to do the same this time around in Turkey.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba warned: "I advise anyone going for negotiations with Russia not to eat or drink any thing, (and) preferably avoid touching surfaces." Delegates present for Tuesday's talks have been given bottled water with glasses covered with paper tops as a precaution.
Christo Grozev, the lead investigator who exposed the poisoning has claimed that the chemical attack was a warning from the Kremlin to Abramovich representing the fact there will be even worse consequences if he betrays those at the top of the Russian government.
"The dosage was not high enough to kill any of the three, the most likely target would have been Abramovich. And it kind of makes sense," Grozen told Times Radio. "I mean, he volunteered to play this role of (an) honest broker, but other oligarchs had declared certain independence from the Kremlin position and criticised the war.
"So it could well be seen as a warning sign to them to not join the ranks of those who dissent, and to not be too much of an honest broker." A separate source close to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told- the Financial Times : "People became totally blind the next day. We did not identify the substance. No idea who was behind [the attack] but it looks like Roman was the main target."
Abramovich has played a very active role in the peace talks despite being a 'pro-kremlin' figure who has long held close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
