One of the most important sanctions targets in recent weeks is Roman Abramovich. He has already come under sanctions from the EU, Switzerland and Britain. However, the most important player in the “sanctions field” – the United States – has not yet subjected the Russian-Israeli-Portuguese oligarch to any restrictions.
WSJ managed to find out that Vladimir Zelensky personally asked Biden not to impose sanctions against Abramovich, since he plays an important role in negotiations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The role of the mediator. It is not entirely clear how sanctions could prevent him from fulfilling this role, so there is a sense that this is Abramovich’s price for his services. The only question is Abramovich’s real ability to influence decisions made in the Kremlin.
Another possible option is that Abramovich is a consolidating link in the model of opposition to Kremlin aggression that the United States and its allies dream of. We are talking about an attempt to unite conditional elites to put pressure on Putin through, for example, bribing hesitant military commanders.
All this is still empty speculation, but there are also interesting facts. According to NYT, the US authorities are still close to including Roman Abramovich on the sanctions list. The fact is that there were reports of a complex transaction of funds through an American hedge fund that was associated with Abramovich. Now one thing is clear – if Abramovich falls under sanctions, then the chances of the existence of some kind of “council of oligarchs” opposing the Kremlin will be close to zero.
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