Sanctioned oligarch Abramovich seen at Russia-Ukraine talks

ISTANBUL — Soccer club owner. He is not a part of the negotiation team.” The talks appeared to yield a cautious step toward scaling back Moscow’s offensive when Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Russia would “fundamentally” cut back operations near Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv and a northern city in a move to build trust. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also voiced his concern, telling the 1+1 TV channel: “I advise anyone going to the negotiations with the Russian Federation not to eat or drink anything and preferably avoid touching any surfaces.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had no details on the poisoning reports, but that the reporting to that effect “raises concerns because Russia has a real track record,” a reference to past poisoning cases blamed on Moscow. In announcing sanctions against Abramovich, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government called him a “pro-Kremlin oligarch” with an estimated fortune of more than 9 billion pounds who should be punished for his association with Putin. It was a further fall from grace for Abramovich, whose $2 billion investment in Chelsea over 19 years transformed the English Premier League team into a force in European football and earned it the nicknames “Chelski” and the “Roman Empire.” He is being forced to sell the club after his assets were frozen as part of a crackdown on oligarchs following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.