Financial Times identifies oligarch who carried Zelenskyy's message to Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to convey a message to President Vladimir Putin in late May regarding a possible bilateral meeting, the Financial Times reported.

According to the newspaper's sources, Zelenskyy asked Abramovich on 21 May to inform Putin that he was ready for direct talks.

Two senior Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times that the message delivered through Abramovich was similar in substance to the open letter Zelenskyy later addressed to Putin and published on the Ukrainian President's official website on 4 June.

In the letter, Zelenskyy proposed a meeting between the two leaders in a neutral location, suggesting Switzerland, Turkey or Arab countries as possible venues instead of Moscow or Kyiv.

The Ukrainian President also said Kyiv was prepared to observe a full ceasefire during negotiations and argued that the United States could monitor compliance along the frontline.

Zelenskyy further stated that any future security guarantees should involve both the United States and European countries.

The letter also highlighted Russian battlefield losses, which Zelenskyy said exceeded 30,000 killed and seriously wounded in May alone. He additionally argued that Russia had become heavily dependent on China and had sought assistance from North Korea.

Putin responded to the letter the following day, saying he had never refused a meeting in principle but did not see any point in holding one at the current stage.

The President also revealed that a Russian businessman had travelled to Kyiv around three weeks earlier, met with Zelenskyy and later informed him that the Ukrainian leader had requested a meeting.

Neither Zelenskyy's office nor Abramovich has publicly commented on the report.