- The US delayed sanctioning Roman Abramovich after a request from Zelenskyy, the WSJ reported.
- The Ukrainian President had told Biden that he could take part in peace talks, per the WSJ.
- Spokespeople for Abramovich and the Kremlin confirmed he had been involved in early peace talks.
The US dropped plans to sanction Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, following a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Treasury officials drafted sanctions targeted at Abramovich earlier this month, aimed to be released in tandem with sanctions from the UK and EU, people familiar with the plans told the publication.
But the White House's National Security Council told the Treasury to put the plan on hold after Zelenskyy told US President Joe Biden in a phone call that he should wait because Abramovich may be useful in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Abramovich had joined some initial peace talks, Reuters reported.
"He did take part at the initial stage," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, per Reuters. "Now the negotiations are between the two teams, the Russians and Ukrainians."
Abramovich, who owns Chelsea Football Club and whom Bloomberg estimates is worth about $14 billion, has "long and close ties" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the EU said.
"He has had privileged access to the president, and has maintained very good relations with him," the EU added.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Western allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia. These aimed to hobble its economy, cut funding to the country's military, and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin to end the war. The measures include sanctioning Russian elites and oligarchs.
Abramovich hasn't been sanctioned by the US but his name was included among those sanctioned by the UK on March 10 and the EU on March 15.
Ukrainian government officials had reached out to people with Russian contacts in the hope that they could facilitate discussions with Putin, The Journal reported.
The people contacted included a film producer who reached out to Abramovich. A spokesperson for Abramovich confirmed the billionaire's involvement to The Journal and said he had offered to help Ukraine's government achieve a "peaceful solution."
"For the negotiations, and in the interest of them succeeding, it is not helpful commenting on the process nor on Mr. Abramovich's involvement," Abramovich's spokesperson told The Journal.
The spokesperson added: "As previously stated, based on requests, including from Jewish organizations in Ukraine, he has been doing all he can to support efforts aimed at restoring peace as soon as possible."
A spokesperson for the White House's National Security Council told The Journal that it wouldn't share "private conversations" between Biden and Zelenskyy.
A State Department spokesperson told The Journal that Biden was working "to ensure collectively we can do all we can to hold to account all those responsible for this war for this needless conflict," but declined to comment specifically on discussions about Abramovich's sanctions.
The US State Department, the White House, and the Treasury did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The US has sanctioned Russian individuals including metals and mining tycoon Alisher Usmanov and Igor Sechin, CEO of oil giant Rosneft.
