Zelensky asked Russian oligarch Abramovich to send message to Putin on peace talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky in May 2026 asked sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin about restarting bilateral peace talks, the Financial Times (FT) reported on June 7, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

Zelensky confirmed the meeting with Abramovich during a June 7 interview with Sky News.

"(Abramovich) came, and he wanted to give me the message that (the Russians) want to understand what we are ready to do," he said.

Zelensky said he told Abramovich to tell Putin that Ukraine will never surrender Donbas. He also asked him to tell Putin he was ready to meet with him directly in a city outside Russia or Belarus.

"I said you can choose any time from tomorrow, you can choose any day, any format," Zelensky said.

The president's characterization of the meeting is slightly different than the version reported by the FT. Sources told the outlet that Zelensky invited Abramovich to Kyiv in May and asked the oligarch to pass a message to Putin signaling that the Ukrainian president was ready to meet for a face-to-face summit.

Kyiv hoped to show its commitment to engaging in peace talks, even with the U.S. distracted by its war in Iran, sources told the FT.

Russia, however, rejected the overture.

At the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on June 5, Putin said he had met with "one of the representatives of our business circles" on May 21 following his visit to Kyiv. Putin said he told this "colleague" he saw no point in meeting with Zelensky.

The unnamed businessman was not acting in an official capacity, Putin said.

A source in the Ukrainian government told the news outlet Suspilne a version of events that aligns more closely with Zelensky's. The source said that Russia initiated the meeting between Zelensky and Abramovich as a way to learn Ukraine's conditions for ending the war.

Abramovich is a Russian billionaire who formerly owned the Chelsea Football Club. He was forced to sell the club and was banned entry to the U.K. in 2022, after the launch of Russia's full-scale war, due to his connections to Putin.

The news of Abramovich's attempt to broker a Zelensky-Putin summit comes three days after Zelensky published an open letter challenging Putin to meet him directly and negotiate an end to the war. The letter offers to begin negotiations with a ceasefire and prisoner exchange — while sending a message to Russians that the full-scale war is a dead end for Moscow.

The letter marked the first direct outreach from Zelensky to Putin since 2022.

One official told the FT that the message sent by Abramovich to Putin was less antagonistic than the open letter, though the essential content was similar. Putin accused Zelensky of being rude in the open letter and once again refused to set up a meeting.

Abramovich has played a role in mediating between Russia and Ukraine since the early days of the full-scale invasion in 2022. He has helped broker prisoner exchanges and assisted in negotiations for the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Sources close to Abramovich said the oligarch is still involved in liaising between Kyiv and Moscow, though his role has been downplayed since Russia began negotiating directly with the U.S. after Donald Trump's re-election.

"He is needed because he is the only Russian (the Ukrainians) will tolerate. He gets along with everyone," one source told the FT.

Zelensky's push for a leader-level summit comes amid what the president has called Ukraine's "window" of opportunity to negotiate with Russia — a window that will likely close once winter returns. Ukrainian forces have stalled Russia's offensive on the battlefield and managed to change the stakes of the war for Russian civilians by escalating its deep strike campaign.