Kremlin confirms Abramovich's unofficial involvement in Russian-Ukrainian talks

MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) - Businessman Roman Abramovich is taking part in the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations at the approval of both parties, although he is not an official member of the Russian delegation, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

"Abramovich has been engaged in ensuring certain contacts between the Russian and the Ukrainian side. He is not an official delegation member. Our delegation is led by presidential aide [Vladimir] Medinsky. Nevertheless, he [Abramovich] is also present on our side in Istanbul," Peskov told journalists on Tuesday, referring to the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations currently ongoing in Istanbul.

Abramovich's participation in the talks has been endorsed by both sides, he said.

Peskov insisted also that reports alleging that Abramovich had been poisoned during one of the previous rounds of the talks, which were made on the eve of the Istanbul round of the Russian-Ukrainian talks, were untrue and were an element of information warfare.

"This is an element of an information campaign, an element of information sabotage, and an element of information warfare. The reports are certainly untrue," Peskov said, adding that there have been statements about this from Abramovich's representatives.

"Actually, you can see all of them, the delegation members, shown on television in Istanbul. This is an element of information warfare, and this is precisely how this should be treated. Currents of information should simply be filtered very thoroughly," he said.