Negotiators suffered mild skin peeling and irritated eyes as a result of an incident on the sidelines of Ukraine-Russia talks
According to a source close
to the Ukrainian negotiation team, there was an incident "a few weeks
ago" during Ukraine-Russia talks in Turkey in which Russian billionaire
Roman Abramovich and two Ukrainian negotiators suffered minor skin peeling and
sore eyes, but the incident was not considered serious, according to the
source.
According to Reuters,
information indicated that Abramovich and the Ukrainian peace negotiators were
afflicted by an environmental cause rather than poisoning, citing an unnamed US
official. "The intelligence strongly implies this was environmental,"
the person told Reuters, adding, "not poisoning."
This comes after the Wall
Street Journal and the investigative group Bellingcat claimed on Monday that
Ukrainian peace negotiators and Abramovich were poisoned on the fringes of
discussions aimed at settling the Russia-Ukraine war earlier this month. The Wall
Street Journal and Bellingcat stated the poisoning occurred during the
sidelines of talks in Kyiv while a source close to the Ukrainian negotiation
team tells CNN the incident occurred on the sidelines of talks in Turkey.
"This is not
real," a source close to Ukraine's presidency told CNN on condition of
anonymity, referring to reports of poisoning. "It's just another case of
misinformation," says the author.
Mykhailo Podoliak, a
Ukrainian negotiator, did not dispute the occurrence explicitly, instead stating
that all of Ukraine's negotiators were working as usual. CNN quoted Podoliak as
saying: "Today, all members of the negotiating group are at work as usual.
In the media world today, there is a lot of conjecture, various conspiracy
theories, and parts of various information games. As a result, I'll say it
again: the members of the negotiation group are functioning normally
today."
When contacted by CNN on
Monday, an Abramovich representative only said, "No comments from us,
thank you."
Following Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, Abramovich, along with other Russian oligarchs, was sanctioned by
the UK government earlier this month. His spokesman confirmed last month that
Abramovich has been acting as an intermediary between Russia and Ukraine,
shuttling between Moscow, Kyiv, Istanbul, Warsaw, and beyond amid a flurry of
talks aimed at ending the conflict.
"I can confirm that
Roman Abramovich was called by the Ukrainian side for support in obtaining a
peaceful conclusion, and that he has been attempting to help ever since,"
Abramovich's representative stated on Feb. 28. Given the stakes, we would
appreciate it if you could understand why we haven't commented on the matter or
his role."
The involvement of
Abramovich as an interlocutor in Russia-Ukraine discussions is not formal. He
is not representing a Russian delegation or serving as a Russian mediator.
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